The Ghost That's not Really Dead
by Katerina Riley
Summary: What if Percy was wrong? What if Thalia wasn't actually thinking what he originally thought? What if that thought somehow appears while eating burgers? Based on The Demigod Files, chapter: Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades. T *COMPLETE*
1. Chapter 1

**Do you like the title? It's the best I could think of… :P **

**Anyway, this story is also based on Riordan's **_**The Demigod Files**_**. Turn to the chapter: Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades. Now please turn to pages 101/102 and 120. I'll begin at 101/102 then I'll skip to 120 and add some of Thalia's thoughts to both of these. And finally, the story will truly begin right after Riordan's ends. I think I'll make it Percy POV… I'm not sure yet… maybe 3****rd**** POV… **

**I just wanted to remind you all who are too lazy to go get their books- Melinoe is the goddess of ghosts. Don't worry, I'm lazy to X)**

**Disclaimer: I do not anything. Not one thing. Not even the letters that construct the words in this story. I only own the creative imagination that formed this story based on Riordan's creative imagination that formed his stories…**

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><p><em><span>Page 101102_

"Always a danger," Percy joked.

I scanned the dead faces of those in the crowd only half paying attention. "Always." _Where are you? You gatta be here_. _You were only-_

"If you're looking for looking for Bianca," Percy voice had dropped very low, "she'd be in Elysium. She died a hero's death."

"I know that!" I snapped. _Why did you have to bring _her _up? _Then I caught myself. Percy didn't know. "It's not that, Percy. I was just…never mind."

Percy looked at me with those intense sea green eyes. I resisted the urge to shiver. It felt like Percy was looking into my soul, uncovering my deepest secret. I tried to avoid looking into his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

His voice sounded so apologetic, I automatically looked up. Our eyes meet. I got what he was trying to say. My expression softened. Percy thought I was thinking about my mother. _Of course he doesn't know about _him_. No one does._

"It's okay. Let's just get this over with."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, another petal fell of the carnation.

Xx~oOo~xX

_Page 120_

Suddenly a figure stood in front of us. A woman. A woman with disheveled blond hair. A woman wearing a pink bathrobe and holding a wineglass in her hand. Her face was stern and disappointing. It always was. I recognized her immediately. At first I felt anger. _It was her fault. It wouldn't have happened if not for her. He would still be here. _

"Now you come back," she growled. "Well it's too late!"

I head Percy whisper something, probably to Nico. I looked into her eyes, getting ready to yell, but I found I couldn't. Suddenly, I didn't care anymore. I felt like I was seven again. My eyes started tearing up and I lowered my bow. I wasn't angry anymore.

"Mother?" I asked. When the anger disappeared, I felt the need of her approval. I needed to make my mother happy.

She threw her wineglass down. "That's right, girl. Doomed to walk the earth, and it's your fault! Where were you when I died? Why did you run away when I needed you?"

Something tugged at my memory. "I- I-" I couldn't think.

I heard Percy saying something to me, something about her being a shade and not hurting me.

"I'm more than that," my mother growled. "And Thalia knows it."

"But- you abandoned _me_!" I cried. I was so confused. I felt as though I should be angry. But I was scared. Scared and hurt. I didn't feel like Artemis' lieutenant at all. More like I was five again, craving my mother's approval.

"You wretched girl! Ungrateful runaway!" My mother shouted at me.

I heard a shout and suddenly Nico was in front of me, his sword was drawn as if he was going to run her threw. But he didn't. He just stood there, staring at my mother.

"No…" he said.

My mother continued speaking, "You left me in my time of need! I needed you and you ran away! Didn't you care that I was hurting?"

I felt pained. She was right. At her time of need, I left as if I didn't care about her at all. _You didn't. It was her fault it happened. _A voice said in my head. That's strange- it wasn't my voice. It sounded like a boy's. A young boy's. The voice was oddly comforting and yet, it made me sad.

"Mama?" Nico asked.

"No, it's my mother," I murmured. My mind was still trying to figure out what the voice meant.

"You were always so angry with me. Tell me, what did I do?"

I couldn't answer that. It felt like my brain was in a fog. A memory kept tugging at my mind, screaming at me to remember it. But I just couldn't. So I stood there, staring at my mother, listening to her yelling at me. Taking it like a good girl should.

"You know, it shouldn't be me you see. There's someone else, someone that haunts you even more than I."

I continued staring at her, trying to figure out what she meant.

"But he's a ghost that's not really dead."

That took me by surprise. I didn't know what she was saying, but I wasn't expecting that to come out of her lips. Suddenly, it felt as if the fog disappeared. I looked to my mother to ask what she meant when I saw something… disturbing.

"What is _that_?" I asked. "Where-"

Nico interrupted me, "It was a trick. She fooled us."

Before us stood a…stood this…thing. It had to be a woman. She was wearing this golden dress with a matching shawl. Half her body was pitch-black and hardened, while the other half was pale and chalky white. But her eyes were worse. They were these empty black voids.

"You're too late demigods," the thing- _Melinoe?_- said. "The deal has been struck."

"What deal?" Percy demanded.

Melinoe made this weird hissing noise. Almost as if she was laughing. "So many ghosts, my young demigod. They long to be unleashed. When Kronos rules the world, I shall be free to walk among mortals both night and day, sowing terror as they deserve."

"Where's the sword of Hades?" Percy demanded. "Where's Ethan?"

It struck me that Percy was the only one talking. Nico and I were just listening.

"Close," Melinoe said. "I will not stop you. I will not need you. Soon, Percy Jackson, you will have many ghosts. And you'll remember."

I didn't like how she was speaking to my cousin. I notched one of my arrows and aimed it at the thing before me. "If you open a path to the world, do you really think Kronos will reward you? He'll cast you into Tartarus along with the rest of Hade's servants."

Melinoe bared her teeth. "Your mother was right, Thalia. You are an angry girl. Good at running away. Not much else."

That struck a nerve. I let go of my arrow. Right before it touched her, she dissolved into fog, and my arrow just hit the rocks and shattered harmlessly.

"Stupid ghost," I muttered.

The memory that kept bugging me finally returned when I saw that my mother wasn't actually my mother. It was just an image, hiding the creature's real form- Melinoe, goddess of ghosts.

It was my mother's fault. I ran away because of what she did. How she treated me...how she treated _us_. She made that stupid deal with that stupid goddess. And now, he's gone. I was aware that I was on the verge of tears and my hands were trembling. I knew Percy was watching me. I glanced over at Nico to see how bad he was. To add insult to injury, Nico looked much better than I felt. He just looked stunned, as if he was smacked between the eyes.

"The thief…" he began. "Probably in the cave. We have to stop him before-"

That was when the last pelt fell off. I took a deep breath. I couldn't lose it now.

_You know, it shouldn't be me you see. There's someone else, someone that haunts you even more than I.__But he's a ghost that's not really dead._

That's what Melinoe said. I had a strange feeling of what she meant. But it seemed impossible. He couldn't be alive…could he?

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><p><strong>I don't really like this chapter… The others will be better hopefully. Did you like the first chapter? Review telling me yes or no and why (I want to get better). The next chapter will be up shortly. It will begin with cheeseburgers at McHale's :)<strong>

**Review!**

**And yes, I know I have another story to finish (_Camp Half-Blood, oh Fun_) and a story I'm writing now (_The Golden Mango_), but I just HAD to write this once the idea popped into my head... So yeah... Where was I again? Oh yes.**

**REVIEW! **

**(...please?)**


	2. Chapter 2

**So… I really don't have a legitimate excuse for not updating. Unless you count being super busy a legitimate excuse… Which you probably don't….**

**Well, I decided to have this be in Percy's POV. Some will be in other people's (or 3rd Person), but the majority will be Percy. **

**I made this extra-long as an apology. PLEASE take it… :(**

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><p><em>Thalia nodded, "In that case, still up for dinner?"<em>

_I couldn't help but smile. "After all that, you're hungry?"_

"_Hey," she said, "even immortals have to eat. I'm thinking cheeseburgers at McHale's."_

I sat munching on my cheeseburger and fries, thinking about the day. I still couldn't believe all that happened in less than two hours. Barely one hour ago, I was in jeopardy of dying from a poisonous shoulder wound. But I was saved by a brain-washed-into-being-good-by-falling-into-the-River-Lethe titan.

_Man, that cheeseburgers was good. _I thought as I popped the last bite into my mouth. Then I thought, _Man, I need to get a better grip on my ADH- ooh! My milkshake! _

"So Thalia," I began after the waiter left, "What are you going to do next?"

Thalia had about one more bite on her cheeseburger. "What do you mean?" She tossed her last bite in her mouth.

"I mean, how are you going to find the other hunters?"

Thalia smiled her famous I-know-something-you-don't-know-and-I'm-not-ganna-tell-you smile, "I have ways…"

"Are you going to tell me?"

She laughed. "Not a chance, Seaweed Brain."

I took a sip of my double chocolate chip milkshake. "I didn't think so, but a guy can ask right?"

"You can ask, but I won't tell."

We began laughing. After about a few minutes, Thalia froze. She was staring at something behind me. Slowly, while taking Riptide out, I turned and saw…

A guy. With some friends. Eating burgers and fries. And laughing. And they were definitely _not _monsters.

"Thalia? Are you okay?"

Xx~oOo~xX

_**A few hours earlier…**_

"Aw, Come on Reyna! Please?"

"No."

"But it's our five-win streak!"

"I don't care."

"I know you do."

"No."

"We deserve it!"

"Not ever going to happen."

"What if I told you it was my birthday?"

Reyna sighed. "It's not your birthday, Jason. Your birthday is close to Christmas."

"And what day is it?"

Reyna sighed again. "Jason-"

"What day is it?"

"It's the 17th ."

"And what's the month?"

"Jason, this is stupid!"

Reyna began walking toward the door, but Jason grabbed her hand.

"What month is it?" His voice was firm and demanding.

"Oh alright. It's December."

Jason waited patiently for Reyna to get it. It didn't take long.

"Oh my gods! Jason! You're birthday's tomorrow!"

A smile tugged on Jason's lips. "Yes. Yes it is."

Reyna stood still for a moment of thinking. Finally she spoke. Unfortunate, Jason didn't like what she said. "The answers still no."

"Aw, Reyna! Why?"

"Because you're Praetor!"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Really? Is that why I'm on this room?"

Reyna narrowed her eyes. She didn't like sarcasm. "Grace…"

"Don't call me that!" Jason snapped.

They stared at each other for a while. Finally, Jason broke the silence. "So can we go?"

Reyna groaned. "No Jason! You can't!"

"Why?" Jason demanded. "What's the big deal?"

"If you leave-"

"Octavian isn't going to try to take over, Reyna. Stop being paranoid."

"Stop interrupting me!"

The two had another stare down. This time, Reyna broke the silence.

"Look, Jason. I can't allow you guys to go because it will look like favoritism."

"But my birthday's tomorrow!"

"Jason…"

"And we won another game of the War Games. For the fifth time! Reyna, you _know _the Fifth Cohort hasn't won any games in forever! Please!"

Reyna clenched and unclenched her hands. She was still for a long time, her eyes closed tightly. After what seemed like an eternity for Jason, Reyna finally answered. "I suppose… I mean it couldn't hurt… So I guess… Yes, Jason. You and your friends can go."

"YES!" Jason leaped into the air for joy. "Reyna I love you so much right now!" Jason gave Reyna a hug. It was a huge one. It was so enormous that it made Reyna blush.

Jason let go. He was blushing slightly also, but not as much. "Thank you, Reyna! I'm going to go tell everyone else!"

Jason rushed out of the building, but as soon as the door shut behind him, he slowed down.

_I can't believe I did that. I mean, I like her…a lot. But it seems as though… There's someone else out there. In the world. Someone for me. But I like Reyna. Oh, I hate being so confused! _

Jason continued thinking these thoughts as he quickly walked toward his cohort's cabin. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself, but he wanted to share the news quickly.

As he opened the door, he was immediately surrounded.

"What did she say?"

"Can we go?"

"Do you have any Kool-Aid?"

Jason laughed at the last remark. "Dakota, you do _not_ need any more Kool-Aid."

"Yes I do!" Came the reply.

"More importantly, what did Reyna say?" Bobby was practically jumping up and down.

Jason smiled. "Calm down, Bobby." He stopped jumping. "She said yes."

"Awesome!" Bobby leaped into the air and started doing this crazy dance around the room. Gwen ran over to her bunk and began to pack while Dakota was tossing all his clothes around muttering about Kool-Aid.

Soon, everyone was packed.

"I can't believe we get to go on a vacation!" Gwen squealed. "It was an agonizing wait, but so worth it!"

That confused Jason. "What do you mean?"

"Dude," Bobby said, "You went in there at 6am. It's 9:30am right now."

"What? Really?" Jason didn't realize he'd been talking to Reyna for so long.

"Where's your stuff?" Dakota asked.

"Oh, in my room. I'll go get it." Jason began running to out the door. "Meet you by the border at the top of the hill!" He shouted over his shoulder.

So Jason was sorta lying when he said all his stuff was already packed. I mean, what can you expect from a fourteen (almost fifteen) year old? Sure, he knew he could convince Reyna to let them go on vacation (didn't think it would take three and a half hours though), but Jason wasn't really one who thought ahead.

As he stuffed clothes into his bag (underwear, jeans, socks, shirts, etc.) a picture fell off his bedside stand. Jason stopped and carefully picked it back up. He didn't remember when it was taken. He looked about one or two in the photo, but whenever he looked at it, he always felt better. He remembered the girl the most. Not much, but definitely her name, face, and attitude. He smiled, grabbed a necklace with a ring on it, _her_ ring, and ran off.

"Hey, guys." Jason grinned. He wasn't even short of breath. "Ready to go…where are we going exactly?"

Gwen grinned. "New York."

Jason stared. "But that's where the most monsters are!"

"Aww. Is wittle baby Jason afwaid of da big scawe monstars?" Booby teased in the worst baby voice ever.

Jason folded his arms across his chest. "No. But I'd rather relax on my birthday. Not fight monsters!"

"Oh, chillax dude." Dakota hiccupped and put an arm around Jason's shoulders. "We have you, Jupiter's son, me, the son of Bacchus **(A/N Dionysus)**, and Bobby, son of Ceres **(A/N Demeter)**, and Gwen, the son-"

"Daughter, Dakota." Bobby interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Gwen is the _daughter_ of Apollo."*****

Dakota burped. "Yeah, whatever. Anyone got any Kool-Aid?"

Gwen walked over to Jason. "Jason, everything will be fine. Plus, I'm fifteen, Bobby's fourteen, Dakota's sixteen, and you're almost fifteen. Monsters wouldn't dare to challenge us." Gwen's smile cheered Jason up a bit.

"I guess you're right. So how are we getting to New York?"

Bobby grinned at that. "You wouldn't believe it! Turns out, Dakota has a car! His mom gave it to him! And his dad gave him some special wine-type-stuff that, once you drink it or touch it, you'll go wherever you want to!"

Jason coughed in surprise. "W-what?"

Dakota just shrugged.

Bobby spoke, "His dad just showed up one day. Said something about wanting to do something for his sons and handed me the bottle, explained what it was and left. It was strange. Not only did he hug Dakota, but Dakota didn't have any other brothers at the time. Only sisters. And Bacchus was wearing this Hawaiian shirt and, I think it was leopard patterned…"

Dakota shrugged again. ******

"Oh…" Jason was in shock. The gods _never _did anything like that.

"Guys, it's almost ten. Hope in!"

Everyone turned to see Gwen, sitting in the driver's seat. "What? I'm not going to let _Dakota _drive me! Besides, I have a permit," Gwen held up a driver's permit as proof.

Jason smiled, "Good enough for me!" He stuffed his bag in the trunk and hoped (literally- it was a convertible) in the car. Bobby sat in the back with Jason while Dakota sat in shot-gun.

"Let's go!" Bobby shouted.

Dakota uncapped the vile and poured it onto the roof of the car.

"Everyone think of New York!" Gwen shouted.

The was a slight tremor, but then, a purple light flooded around them and they were in… New York!

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><p><strong>*<strong>**So, I didn't know who Bobby and Gwen's parent was and Gwen is described as 'optimistic', so I figured Apollo would be the best choice, right? And for Bobby, I just choose Ceres because…I wasn't sure what to put and I just picked a random name…**

****T**hat was the time when Pollux, Dionysus' son, saw his twin (Castor) die in the book, Battle of the Labyrinth****

****Anyway...****

****Please review! :)****


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey again! So I updated quickly, right? Well, I don't know when I can update again because of my busy schedule, but my next update will probably be **_**The Golden Mango **_**since I need to finish it. It won't be long. Probably two or three more chapters left. And then there's **_**Camp Half-Blood, Oh Fun **_**that I need to update… I think I can make it even longer, which is good. I don't want it to end yet, I like writing it! :) **

**Anyway, here's the next chapter! Not as long as the last one, but I have a lot of homework and I'm watching Once Upon A time and…you probably don't want to hear about my rambling do you? *sigh* So here it is! Chapter 3**

**Ok so the above was from last night. Want to know why I didn't put this up? BECAUSE MY COMPUTER WOULDN'T LET ME GO TO DOC MANAGER! *growls at computer* But now it's working *jumps in air* *hugs computer* I love you now :) So here is chapter 3...**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

"Thalia!"

I waved my hand in front of her face. She didn't move. I shook her a little. She was still frozen. Before I could punch her, someone plopped down beside me, causing me to forget what I was doing. Good thing to. Now that I think about it, punching someone in the face wouldn't be a very good way to get them out of a trace. Especially if that person happens to be Thalia Grace.

"Nico?" I asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

Nico had his arms folded across his chest and his lips in a pout. "Father told me to leave."

"Why?"

I glanced over to see Thalia out of her frozen spell, though she looked extremely jumpy, and avoided all eye contact with me. She began nibbling on her fries.

"How should I know!" Nico exclaimed. "I went to go find my dad, and when I got to his room, his wife," Nico spat out the word 'wife', "Said that he was too busy to see me."

Nico's voice was getting louder and louder. I could tell that the people behind me, the ones that made Thalia freeze earlier, could probably hear him. I was about to warn Nico to be quiet, but another milkshake was places in front of me, blueberry this time. I began to gulp it down. _Gods, I love blue food._

"I told her," Nico continued, "That I wanted to see my father. And she said that couldn't be possible. We began arguing and after about ten minutes, my dad walks out to see what all the fuss was about. I explained that I wanted to talk to him about the you-know-what that's coming up and how he just _has _to participate or else we'll lose. And he tells me we'll talk about it later and then, he pulls _her _into his room and they begin wrestling!"

I wasn't really paying attention, but that last part confused me. "Huh? What do you mean by that?" As soon as the words were said, my mouth was trying to find the straw again. _This is the best blueberry milkshake ever! I gatta find out the recipe for my mom! So good!_

"Wrestling," Nico explained. "You know, like on TV? Though, I swear that the TV guys don't make as much noise as Persephone did."

I couldn't believe I just heard that. I literally breathed in my milkshake causing me to start chocking. There was blue stuff coming out my nose! Thalia had it worse. She had just stuffed a handful of fries into her mouth and now _she_ was chocking. I couldn't help her, because I was in the same boat as her, and Nico had no idea what just happened, so he couldn't help her…or me.

_Oh my gods! This is the end! Not a monster, but a milkshake is going to kill me! How hulimia- _COUGH!

Suddenly, I felt strong arms wrap around my abdomen and pull inward, causing me to spit up right on my plate. It was disgusting, but at least I could breathe now. I looked over to Thalia and saw that she was also breathing now.

"Uh, Th-thanks for…for that." I managed to say. I looked over my shoulder to see a guy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and probably not much younger than me.

"No problem," he said as he unwrapped his arms.

I heard a gasp, I looked back to Thalia, who had her hands covering her mouth; her eyes were wide with shock.

"J…Ja…Jas..."

"Thalia, are you okay?" Nico asked, worry all over his face. I didn't blame him, I was worried to. A little scared even. Thalia _never_ acted like this.

I heard breath being sucked in form behind me, probably from the boy. "Thalia?"

"Jason," the girl asked, "What's going on?"

I looked around. Everyone was staring at us. I felt like someone was going to shout, "That's Percy Jackson! He's the one who [insert destructive word here] the [insert building/vehicle/city/etc. here]! I saw it on the news!" After my first quest to get Zeus' lightning bolt back, I never really licked attention any more. In fact, I pretty much hated it and it would always freak me out.

"Perhaps we should talk someplace more private."

Thalia nodded. We all got up, left a tip, paid our bills, and walked out of McHale's. We walked until we were about four blocks away, then we turned into an ally.

"Okay," I turned around to faced my friends as well the people I didn't know, "Care to explain Thalia?"

She stayed silent for a moment, her eyes closed. She looked as though she was weighing the pros and cons of telling us…whatever happened back at McHale's. Everyone's eyes were flickering between her and the blonde dude, who seemed very interested in some glass on the ground.

Finally, Thalia opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a roar. That was definitely _not _Thalia's voice. I turned around to see a Manticore only a few feet from my face.

I forgot about everything. Everything, that is, except how to fight. I pulled Riptide out as Nico drew out his sword, Thalia got her bow ready, and… wait the other kid's had weapons to?

No time for thinking. Only action. My brain went on autopilot and I charged.


	4. Chapter 4

**I would like to apologies now for the descriptions. **_**The Son of Neptune **_**doesn't really describe anyone (and if they do, I'm sorry, but I just want to describe them how I mentally see them), so I choose looks for the people. Hope no one is offended or anything. **

**Oh, and I also choose third POV for this, cuz I think it makes it a bit more dramatic. What do you think?**

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><p><em><strong>Third Person POV<strong>_

Seven kids stood across from each other, three on one side and four on the other.

No one said anything, not one word was spoken. The kids only stared at each other.

They were covered in sweat and dirt and were breathing hard, as if they had just run a marathon…or fought a monsters and won.

In their hands held different various objects. To most, it was just random junk: a pen, a trashcan lid, a flower, even a stuffed rabbit. But to a special few, they saw what the objects were really.

Weapons.

One of the kids, a boy with black hair and sea-green eyes, raised his weapon- a sword- at the other kids.

"Who are you?"

The boy stood with his three friends. All three had black hair. All three wielded a weapon. The girl had a quiver if arrows slung across her back and a bow in her hand. She was wearing a silver parka with silver cameo pants and combat boots, her eyes were a bright electric blue. The boys both held swords and were wearing jeans and black sneakers. The one with sea-green eyes was wearing a blue shirt, with a huge hole in the shoulder, and a surfboard printed on in. The other was wearing a black shirt with a skull on it and an Aviator's jacket. His eyes were a dark brown.

The trio glared at the other kids. Except the girl. Her eyes seemed to find the ground very interesting.

The four other kids were wearing the same thing: jeans and a purple shirt. The boy, who kept eyeing the girl from the trio, also had electric blue eyes (which seemed to be sending questions to the girl). However, his hair was blonde and on his feet were white sneakers. The boy with a faint trace of red around his mouth had brown hair and brown eyes. A pair of brown sandals was on his feet. The girl had honey blonde, wavy hair that reached just past her shoulders and her eyes were hazel. On her feet was a pair of gold Roman sandals that matched perfectly with her dark blue skinny jeans. The other boy had dark brown hair and green eyes. He kept shifting his weight from one foot to another, his black converse shifting the dirt into different patterns.

The four glared at the trio with just as much intensity.

The boy with sea-green eyes took a step forward. "I said. Who- AHHH! Mrs. O'Leary, NO!"

Suddenly, a huge hellhound pounced on the boy.

"Mrs… Mrs. O…O'Lear… Nico help!"

The hellhound seemed to be sitting right on top of the boy- pushing all the air out of his lungs.

The other boy, whose named was Nico, started trying to roll the big 'dog' off of his friend. "Ugh. Mrs. O'Leary… Lose some weight!"

"And take a bath," the girl chimed in. She seemed a bit more interactive now that a giant hellhound broke her concentration of trying not to pay attention to the other kids.

After the initial shock of a hellhound attacking someone and _not _trying to kill them, the other four gingerly stepped forward. Soon, they realized that the two need help. With four extra hands, Mr. O'Leary was off of the boy in no time.

Nico helped him up, "You okay Percy?"

Percy wheezed. "You totally ruined my dramatic effect!" He coughed, "And then tried to kill me! Bad dog. Very, very bad dog."

"Dog?" the boy with brown hair and green eyes asked. "But that's not a dog, that's a hellhound!"

Percy laughed, or tried to. It's difficult to laugh after you had the wind knocked out of you. "Yeah, I know. It's a long story."

The kids looked at each other again. Only this time, it wasn't accusingly. It was more like trying to figure out what's missing. After a few minutes of silence, someone spoke up.

"Fighting like that… You three must be half-bloods!" The girl exclaimed. "By the way, I'm Gwen."

Before anyone could say anything, a bright light appeared. Suddenly, there stood before them...

"Dad?"

The man smiled. "Ah, yes. Gwen. Hello. But no, I'm not exactly you're father. It's a bit complicated.

"Apollo?" Nico asked uncertainly.

Apollo smiled. "Yep, that's me. The god of prophecies. And I have one just for you. All seven of you."

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><p><strong>What will the prophecy be? What will be the point of their quest?<strong>

**No, seriously, TELL ME! I have no clue on what to do about it. Please REVIEW and tell me your ideas. What should their quest be about? Thank you and goodnight. Peace!**

****

**REVIEW!**

**:)**


	5. Chapter 5

"Seven shall go across the sea

Greek and Roman they shall be

Find the creature of both day and night

And destroy it before it can bite.

For this creature is like no other

And it will prey on those with friends you call brothers

So beware and take heed

This creature is not like you and me."

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><p><strong>Yeah, it kinda sucks. I made it up in about three minutes. I don't think it sounds very prophecy-ish, but it was the best I could think of since <strong>

***ahem* NO ONE GAVE ME ANY IDEAS! *ahem* **

**Anyway, I will now work on continuing the story, now that I have this (sucky) prophecy created. **


	6. Chapter 6

**So many people have asked me to do a sequel for **_**Camp Half Blood, Oh Fun**_** and I want to say I'm working on it…meaning I'm still trying to figure out what I should do for it…For now, I'm just going to continue working on this one. I'm trying to get in the hang of updating on Saturdays again. Please just bear with me. I love you all my loyal minion- I mean friends! Friends! Hehe…um… Oh look! A disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: Ana does not own PJO or HOO, however Ana does currently own her imaginary red Porsche convertible that she is now getting in and driving away at 250 mph.**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

For the first time I was at a loss for words. Well, not the _first _time. There was one time when Annabeth kissed me… Wait, that's not relevant to the prophecy. _Stupid ADHD_.

I was still at a loss for words. I mean, prophecies are meant to be confusing, but this one isn't. This one is straight forward with what we have to do, but what the Hades does 'creature of both day and night' mean? And the whole biting thing and destroying our brothers…or is it friends?

But to be honest, I was more angry than confused. I mean seriously? I already have a prophecy! I don't need another one! I was about to speak about this, but someone beat me to it.

"But Apollo! There's already a prophecy!" Nico exclaimed.

"What? There is? How do you know?" Dakota -I think it was Dakota- narrowed his eyes at the three of us. I noticed his whisper something the girl, "Gwen, how do they know that prophecy? Do you think they have an augur? Do you-"

"Shut up Bobby!" Gwen hissed at him.

_Oh. I suppose it wasn't Dakota. So that means Dakota is the one with a red moustache…_ I don't know why, but I don't like these purple-shirted kids. Something about them feels…off. No, more like wrong. I had this strange that we weren't supposed to meet. I wasn't able to notice it before (well, we _were _fighting a Manticore), but now, I can feel it, in my gut. Not as deep wrenching like when I'm summoning water, but still pretty deep.

"Hey Apollo, can I…speak with you? Over here?" I used my head to point behind me.

Apollo looked taken aback. I guess not a lot of demigods ask to speak with gods privately. Well, not a lot of gods are very nice. Like Ares.

Surprisingly, Apollo agreed. "Oh. Uh, sure." We walked until we were out of the alleyway and around a corner. "What's up Percy?"

I lowered my voice, I knew they couldn't hear us, but it just felt…right. "I have a weird feeling, like we aren't supposed to meet."

At first, Apollo looked a bit scared, but it was gone in an instant. "What do you mean? Aren't we talking right now? That's technically meeting."

"No, not us. Us. In the alleyway. The kids with purple shirts."

"Oh." There it was again. Apollo looked scared for a second. I decided to pull an Annabeth on him and confront him.

"Apollo, what's with you? That's twice you looked like that. Scared. And don't try to deny it!"

I thought I did pretty well. I sounded very much like Annabeth…I think. Unfortunately, I never got an answer out of him. Back in the alleyway, there was some sort of scuffle or something. It sounded like they were fighting. I glanced at Apollo. Somewhere in the back of my head I found it strange that I could almost understand what he was thinking. Together, we ran back into the alley to face whatever monster it was this time.

Xx~oOo~xX

_**Gwen POV **_

I watched as the black-haired boy- Percy, I think- walked off with my father…who's apparently not my father? That was weird. He's Apollo, but he's not my dad because it's complicated? What the Pluto does that mean!

And then, there's my brain. My first thought was that dad looked extremely young. He was wearing plain kakis, with a blue plaid shirt, and brown loafers. And he looked…kind of…hot. _OH. MY. GODS. Did I seriously just think that? What is wrong with me? _He looked so different. Other than his hair and face. But his usual aura of power seemed… different. More…I hate to say it, but more immature. Like he would suddenly start saying weird poems and haikus and what not.

Almost on impulse I sighed, "Stop making faces Bobby."

"But he started it!"

I looked over to see that the other boy was indeed making faces, but knowing Bobby, Bobby probably started it.

"I did not!" He shouted. I think his name was Nico. He looked a bit like Percy: black hair, strong aura of power, almost the same body type. Well, Nico was definitely paler and not as muscular, but they certainly looked similar. Could pass off as cousins. And the girl looked similar to them to.

_Wait a minute… _As Bobby and Nico were yelling at each other, I took a closer look at the girl. And Jason. They looked kind of similar to. And they were also looking down, avoiding each other's gaze. I glance at Dakota trying to grab his attention, but he was too busy swigging another bottle of Kool-Aid. I sighed. _He needs to get his priorities straight. _I looked over at Bobby and Nico again. Now they were pushing each other.

"Guys, stop it! Can't you just act your age?" I was so tired of trying to keep Bobby in his place. For a fourteen-year old, Bobby was extremely immature. I sighed. _Boys will be boys_.

"Tell me about it." Thalia grumbled.

_Did I say that out loud? _Maybe this Thalia girl isn't so bad. Except for the evil eye she keeps giving. Not just to me, but to everyone in the alley.

"Percy, get back here." I heard her mumble.

I decided to make a conversation. "So is Percy your brother? He's kind of cute. Is he your boyfriend?"

The minute those words were out of my mouth, I was suddenly knocked to the ground a knife to my throat.

"He. Is. Not. My. Boyfriend." She hissed between clenched teeth. I tried to say sorry but she had her hand on my neck, blocking my carotid artery.

"Hey!" I head Bobby shout, "Get off her!" From the corner of my eye, I saw him push Nico to the ground, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"Why you little…" Nico pounced on Bobby. Soon they were wrestling on the ground. And I was seeing spots.

"Thalia get off her!" I saw a body with a black dot for a head- no wait, the black dot moved. I saw Jason trying to pry Thalia's hands off my neck.

"Guys, stop!" I could hear Dakota drunkenly trying to get Bobby and Nico to stop fighting.

"I am the Lieutenant of Lady Artemis. I do _not_ have boyfriends." Thalia growled.

Suddenly I head the echo of footsteps. "Thalia, get off of her!"

With the added strength, Jason and Percy were able to get Thalia off of me. I gasped for air and it, thankfully, flowed freely through my lungs. I sat up gingerly, trying not to get dizzy. I glanced over to see Dakota holding a squirming Bobby and Apollo (my dad whose not my dad) was holding a squirming Nico.

"Well," Apollo said, "That went better than expected."

"Apollo, put me down!" Nico was still struggling in Apollo's strong arms.

"What do you mean 'better than expected'?" Percy eyed Apollo suspiciously.

Apollo just shrugged. "You didn't kill each other."

Jason snorted. "Barely."

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><p><strong>REVIEW! Please and thank you :)<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

_**Percy POV**_

Even though I was holding an extremely angry Thalia, I couldn't help but laugh at the blonde guy's comment. It was just so funny, cause it was so ironic (I learned that a few days ago… yes, from Annabeth…)! And the way he said it kinda reminded me of Thalia. But, like, more manly. A smile tugged at Apollo's mouth at the blonde guy's comment to.

"Apollo, _please_ stop man-handling me. Put me down!" Nico was still trying to get out of Apollo's arms. I started laughing even harder when I looked toward Nico. His feet weren't even touching the ground!

"Same goes you two," Thalia practically growled. "Let me go."

I let go right away. I've seen Thalia angry; I've _felt _Thalia angry- lighting bolt up your butt? Let me tell you: ouch. Unfortunately, the blonde guy (_I've got to remember his name…he did tell me right?_) has never seen Thalia angry, so he didn't let go.

"You have to promise me you won't hurt Gwen."

I looked over to the girl, who was now being helped up by the red-mustache-dude and the other black haired dude. I grimaced as I saw the marks on Gwen's neck that closely resembled hand prints. _What did she say to get Thalia so uptight?_

Thalia snorted. "As long as anybody doesn't say stupid things, I'll behave."

"Stupid things like what?" Piped up the black haired kid.

I noticed Nico roll his eyes. I did to, along with face palming and shaking my head. That was one stupid kid. Nico's face said practically the same thing I was thinking, _Can he really be that stupid! Can't he see how pissed Thalia is?_

Thalia narrowed her eyes at Gwen. "Percy and I are not dating."

"What!" I gagged. "Eww! Gross!"

"That's nasty," Nico was nodded his head while clutching his stomach and pretending to puke.

Apollo had a horrified expression on. "I don't think Artemis or Aphrodite would ever approve at that. Or your parents. That would be…horrifying.

"Who-" the blonde guy started to say, but Apollo intervened. "I should be going now. You have the prophecy and the plane tickets-"

"P-plane?" Thalia asked her electric blue eyes big, confused, and terrified. I felt exactly the same way and if I looked anything like Nico, I probably looked like I was about to pee my pants. And with Thalia being terrified of heights… Let's just say you probably don't want to have us in your plane, it would probably go down in flames and landing on some sharp rocks leaving no survivors. (Yeah, I love you to Uncle Zeus.) In the back of my head (the extremely small rational part) took a mental note that Thalia was acting _really _strange; she was trying to avoid everyone and everything. She looked like an animal caught in a trap, and by the way she kept glancing at the blonde guy, I knew he was part of it somehow. But mind you, that was the extremely small rational part of my brain. Every other part was screaming at Apollo many things I probably shouldn't be thinking, but I my defense, I wasn't supposed to be in the air! _You should know this, Apollo!_

"Oops," Apollo snapped his fingers and handed seven pieces of paper to Gwen. "Okay, _now _you have the tickets. Be at the airport in one hour, there'll be a private jet provided by Lupa-"

"Who?" Nico asked.

"You don't know who Lupa is?" The black haired boy asked surprised.

"Ahem." Apollo looked pointedly at everyone. "If you will stop interrupting…" He waited for a few minutes. We were all silent. "Thank you. As I was saying, the jet will take you to Greece and from there; you'll be on your own. And don't worry; you have permission to be in the air, but only on the way there. You'll have to go some other way for the way back." Apollo checked his watch- which was an awesome Rolex by the way- and sighed, "I'm late. I guess this is where I say goodbye. Don't fail. Especially you, Percy." I could feel everyone staring at me. "You're already supposed to be Olympus' savior. Please don't die." I'm sure I started blushing.

I just stared at the spot where Apollo left. I really didn't want this kind of attention…especially with people I just met. After a few seconds, someone spoke up.

"Savior of *hiccup* Olympus? *hiccup* What's that mean?"

I turn to face the red-mustache-dude. I'm greeted with a loud belch in my face. I hear a multitude of "Gross!" and one, "Dakota that was epic!"

"Oops, sorry." He didn't look sorry. He looked like he wanted to jump off a roof of a sky scraper while playing a banjo and singing, "I'm siiiiiiiinging in the raaaaaaain! I'm siiiiiiiinging in the raaaaaaaain!" during a lighting storm.

I like this guy!

"It's okay," I shrugged at held out my hand. "I'm Percy Jackson."

"Dakota Hamburg, son of Bacchus."

That sounded familiar. I recognized the name… I think I heard during one of Annabeth's rants… "Bacchus? Is that…" I took a random guess. The first thing that popped into my head was, "Is that the wine dude?"

Dakota scowled, but I heard a laugh behind me. I turned to see the black haired boy. "He absolutely _hates _that name! Weird right? It's such a good name."

"Wow… Percy, was right for once." Nico mused.

"Hey! I take great offense to that comment!" I maturely stuck my tongue out at Nico who maturely stuck his tongue out back at me. I heard Thalia mutter "Boys…" I laughed, but I stopped rather quickly. I thought of something that should've occurred to me earlier.

"Wait. Bacchus? Don't you mean Dionysus?"

"Uh, no." The Gwen spoke this time. "He means Bacchus. Who's Dionysus?"

"Isn't he the Greek version of Bacchus?" It was the blonde guy. I just realized he hadn't been talking this entire time.

"Wait, Greek version? As opposed to what?" I know I'm called Seaweed Brain for a reason, but this time, even Thalia and Nico looked confused to so I felt much better about asking that question.

The blonde haired boy took a deep breath. "Roman."

I blinked. "What are you saying? That there's Greek _and _Roman gods?"

Nico began laughing, but I had a sinking feeling that I was right. Especially when Gwen piped up by saying, "Of course there's Roman gods! But about the Greek ones… That's just a rumor."

Nico stopped laughing. I stared at them in shock. They just looked back at us, a questioning look on their faces. I felt a nudge. I looked down to see Nico and we had one of those silent conversations.

_No, you say it!_

_But it was your idea, Nico!_

_But your older!_

_Technically you're older by, like, 50 years. _

_70. Just do it._

_No!_

_Please?_

_NO!_

…

…

…

_Ugh. Fine. I hate you Nico. _

I took a deep breath. "Well then, perhaps we should start over. I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon the Greek god of the sea."

**I really didn't want to end there, but my brain kinda shut down at this point and since I promised I'd update more frequently… Well, here it is! Chapter 7 :) **

**Oh, and I'm probubly going to make up the last names of everyone whoes last name I _don't _know. So just a head's up.**

**REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I kinda left you with a cliffhanger there didn't I? Well now you can rest easy! Here is the next chapter! How will everyone react? Well, read to find out!**

**Um… Before we continue I want to say something… It's a bit difficult… Let's start at the beginning: I decided to re-read my story since I had a small writers block and I realized that I had Bobby's hair as brown originally, but I kept writing black. So to make it a bit less confusing, his hair will be a dark, dark brown, but not exactly black… I feel so bad! I got my own character (or his description at least) wrong! How humiliating! :,( Please forgive me!**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

"_Well then, perhaps we should start over. I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon the Greek god of the sea."_

My hand was still stretched out in front of me. I wasn't sure if I really expected anyone to shake my hand. I just left it there…awkwardly. I gave a quick glance at Nico. _If this backfires, I am so going to kill you. _It took only about a second, but I saw Nico nod his head almost instantly. Of course he wasn't afraid of the look I gave him, since he knew I couldn't really hurt him. Nico was my friend now and of course my fatal flaw _had_ to be loyalty. Even if I was super mad at Nico, and kicked his butt from here to China, I would still help him up and make sure he was okay. _Stupid fatal flaw. _I know it's going to bite me in the butt one of these days. _Hopefully not soon. _That day would definitely be a bad day. I really dread that day. Sometimes I have nightmares about it. Nico acted as if he wasn't afraid of anything- except airplanes. But aren't all of Poseidon and Hades' children afraid of- _Oops! Off topic again. Stupid ADHD._ Where was I? Oh yes, if this backfires, I'm ganna have to fight these guys.

The other kid's expressions were all I needed to know that it was about ten seconds away from backfiring. Doubt and suspicion was written all over their face. And behind their eyes, you could tell they were getting ready to fight me- us- fight all three of us. _Does every demigod's eyes do that? Arrrg! Focus Percy, focus! _So what did I do? I held my ground and put the same look in my eyes. Not enough that said I _am _going to fight you, but enough for them to know that if they attacked, I'm prepared.

After about half a minute, Dakota took a step forward. I was a bit surprised when he didn't attack me. Instead, he belched, shook my hand, and belched again.

"Dakota Hamburg, son of Bacchus the Roman god of wine *hiccup* and stuff. But you already knew that." He gave me a drunken, but kind, grin.

"Uh… Nico to meet you Dakota." I gave him a grin to. Though mine was definitely smaller.

There were a few more minutes of awkward silence while Dakota continued shaking my hand. All the other purple-shirted-kids looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. _I think he _did _lose his mind. To Kool-Aid at least. _

Finally the black haired boy stepped forward. I noticed that he had green eyes to. Though while mind were sea green, his reminded me of the forest. They were a dark color, yet at the same time, very bright and alive. Then I noticed his hair. It's wasn't black like I originally thought. It was a very dark brown, like the earth almost. If I had to guess, I think I would know who his parent was. But he didn't speak. He pulled out a knife (an extremely _sharp _knife), grabbed Dakota by his sleeve, and dragged him back to the other group all while glaring at me suspiciously.

I had to admit, I was glad to have my hand back to myself. It was starting to go numb and my whole arm felt tingly. _Gods, Dakota has a strong grip._

More minutes of silence had gone by. I was getting really restless and behind me, I could hear Nico and Thalia constantly shifting their feet. _If they don't say anything in the next few minutes, I'm going to scream. _

What really bugged me was that minus shifting their weight about twice for each person, the purple-shirted-kids barely moved. They looked wearily at us. Well, actually all but Blonde Guy. He looked wearily… at the ground. _What his deal? _I let my mind wonder, which in hindsight, probably wasn't the best idea, since they were deciding whether to attack us or not.

My mind starting thinking about Annabeth. I don't know why, it just did. I found myself wanting to blush, but I didn't. _Thank the gods. _No matter how hard I tried thinking about anything else like the prophecy, Riptide, Mrs. O'Leary, this new prophecy, I even tried thinking about school (which didn't last long. About ten seconds which was ten seconds longer than usual), my mind kept going back to Annabeth. Our last conversation, the last time we trained together, whenever she would laugh and call me 'Seaweed Brain', that kiss…

I blinked. Thinking of Annabeth's lips unconsciously made my eyes notice the other kids' lips. _Oh_ _gross. That sounded a lot better when I wasn't thinking clearly. _It wasn't the way their lips looked like; it was what they were doing- they were moving. You almost couldn't tell, but they were quietly talking to each other, though Gwen and Dark Hair (_yeah, that sounds cool_) were doing most of the talking.

I waited for about another ten seconds, but before I got the chance to shout, someone else did.

"WILL YOU GUYS JUST SAY _SOMETHING_? I'M BORED OUT OF MY FREAKIN' MIND OVER HERE!"

I almost laughed. Of course it would be Nico to speak up. I looked expectably at the purple-shirted-kids. They still didn't say anything. They looked taken aback from Nico's outburst, but their eyes were still clouded with suspicion.

I heard a sigh behind me, but it wasn't from Nico. I turned to face Thalia just as she began speaking.

"Look guys, whatever you may think about Greeks…or Romans…or… Uh… Oh, whatever! My point is, there is a prophecy saying that seven people who are Greek and Roman have to fight together to destroy a monster. Whatever problem you guys obviously have with Greeks better go down the drain. You will obviously die without us on this mission, just as we would obviously die without you. And since no one can just ignore a prophecy made about them, we must go _together_. And if you guys were like me, you'd want this whole business done and over with as soon as possible so we better get going to the pl- to the plane."

It noticed Thalia had gone slightly paler at the mention of 'plane'. Other than that it was a great speech. After a moment of hesitation, Gwen walked up and held her hand out to me.

"You're obviously the leader,"

I blushed, but took shook her hand anyway. "Wh-what? No, I'm-"

"Oh stop being so humble. Of course you're the leader," Nico said it so matter-of-factly I blushed even harder. I heard Thalia mutter something, but I wasn't listening. It probably had to do with sighing, saying 'boys' in a rude way, and rolling her eyes.

Gwen cracked a smile. "You're just like _our _fearless leader," her eyes wondered to Blonde Guy, "He doesn't like all the attention either." She shook her head as if to say, 'Can you believe that?' In all honesty, I could. "Anyway, I'm Gwen Bennett daughter of Apollo," her eyebrows furrowed together, "Though apparently not the Apollo that was here before…" She paused, thinking. "I'm guessing he was Greek?" She tried to sound brave, but I could hear her voice shake a bit. I nodded. _Why did these guys hate the Greeks?_ I was super curious.

After much hesitation, the other boy came forward. "I'm…" he scowled at Nico. I looked back to see Nico glaring at the boy just as intensely. "Him first."

Nico looked as though he wanted to protest, but then he got that Hades Gleam in his eyes. You know? The one that makes him look extremely calm and natural and completely sane, yet at the same time as if he were planning which way would be the cruelest, messiest way to kill you? Do you know it? Oh, you don't? Good. Consider yourself lucky.

"Nico…" But before I could finish my warning, the ground suddenly erupted around us. I had to jump back because something was rising to the surface right under my feet. I noticed everyone else had jumped back about five feet from where they were originally standing as well.

"I am the Ghost King," Nico said as his two skeleton people things raised him on his shoulders. His voice sounded loud and boastful. The way he looked down at everyone made it seem as though Nico really was a king and we were all his servants. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. _Nico certainly has Hades' vanity issues. _

I noticed Thalia trying to catch my eye. _And they say _my _father is dramatic. _She mouthed.

I cracked a smile and gave a nod. I'm guessing the purple-shirted-kids had held their breaths, because after Thalia and I almost busted out laughing, I heard a sigh. Not exactly a _sigh_, more like a rush of air going outwards. They didn't look scared, more like how one would look after seeing two people fighting and cursing at each other and then get up and act like best friends even though one had a broken arm and the other had broken ribs. If you can imagine that face with nervous laughter, _that's _how they looked.

Nico continued, "My Name is Nico Di Angelo. I'm the son of Hades, the Greek god of death. I am the Ghost King."

"You already said that Death Breath," I laughed. Thalia joined me. Nico crossed his arms and pouted. The skeleton people slowly sunk back into the earth, leaving Nico standing there.

"Way to ruin my awesomeness, Percy."

"You're welcome."

When I turned to face the other guys, I noticed they were whispering again. After about a minute of them whispering, Dark Hair came forward.

"Um… So I'm Bobby Summit. Son of Ceres, Roman goddess of agriculture."

Next, the blonde boy came forward, "I'm Jason Gra- Grason." I didn't miss the fumble he had over his last name. I also didn't miss the way his eyes wondered over to Thalia and the confused expressions on his team's faces. Even if it was only for a few seconds. "Son of Jupiter, Roman god of the sky."

"Oh wow! That's so cool!" Nico exclaimed.

"Why?" Bobby asked.

Nico grabbed Thalia's hand, much to her dismay, and dragged her forward. "Go on, Thalia. Now it's _your _turn to introduce yourself."

After giving Nico her famous 'I-am-_so_-going-to-kill-you-later-in-the-most-unpleasent-and-painful-way-ever,' Thalia began speaking.

"My name's Thalia. I'm the Lieutenant of Lady Artemis and daughter of Zeus, lord of the sky."

At this, Bobby, Gwen, Dakota, and Jason stared at Thalia in surprise. Well, Jason looked more like his deepest fear was confirmed. But in a calm voice he said, "Well, we're all…aquatinted. Now, I suggest we go and get in the plane. We have a prophecy to fulfill."

_Oh right… The plane… _

"So I guess we should be going then…" I said hesitantly.

Nico finished my thought, "…To our doom."

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><p><strong>Haha, I love Nico :) "To our doom" Haha, awesome right? So how do you guys like it? Tell me! :D<strong>

**Review~Review~Review~Review~Review**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! So all of you who've read **_**Camp Half-Blood, oh Fun **_**I would love, love, LOVE it if you reviewed (either here or on that story) about what I could do for a sequel. I thought I had a good idea, but it's not really working out. It's too... unoriginal. I want it to be totally and completely original. You know what I mean? Please review telling me something. ANYTHING! Trust me, it will help. **

**So, back to **_**this **_**story… This will be in Jason POV because… Well…You'll find out ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Nothing at all.**

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><p><em><strong>Jason POV <strong>_

It took us about an hour to meet the guy.

We were out in the middle of nowhere.

Taking two separate taxies.

Extremely hot and dirty taxis.

We knew finally arrived when the driver asked why we wanted to be dropped off way out in the middle of an empty field.

Empty? There was a huge jet right in front of us!

We all got out, paid the taxi drivers, and walked up to the man in the pilot uniform who ushered us inside. He was mumbling about us being late. But I wasn't paying attention to him. I was paying attention to the jet!

I looked up at the jet. It was white with a purple strip down the middle. In gold words, it said, _Subvectio ad omnes Romani in Egestas. _ Transportation to all Romans in need. _Well, three of us were Romans, but all of us were in need of transportation… And Lupa sent us… I guess it'll be okay. _

Closer I got, the more impressed I was with Lupa. _Who knew her connections were _this_ amazing? _Now that I think about it, the guy looked familiar, but I can't place my finger on it. _Was he the guy who left to become a pilot? Freddie? _Maybe. Probably_. I think he's the son of Venus... Ah, yes! Now I remember! _Freddie married Leah, the mortal daughter of some rich guy, and left Camp Jupiter about a year ago. Freddie had the right idea, this jet was amazing!

Not only did the jet look big on the outside, it was huge on the inside! The walls were crème colored and the windows were clean, clear, and pretty big as well. The floor had a similar crème colored carpet- a really soft carpet I might add. The seats were leather, big, and comfortable. They could even recline until they were totally flat! Just like a bed. Everyone had their own seats and on each seat was a pillow!There were two seats in each row and about five rows in all. The walkway looked about four feet across. All in all, this jet looked like a little bit of Elysium.

I let my mind wonder. What would it be like if I grew old? _What would I be doing?_ _Who would I be growing old with? I wonder what she's doing now. Lying on the beach? At some amusement park? Laughing with her family over some joke? I wonder what she looks like. _My mind pondered about this until I realized, _I'm not thinking about Reyna… Is that bad? I'm pretty sure she likes me…and I like her to… But is it the same way? _I sighed. _All I know is that girls are so confusing and this chair is extremely comfortable. _

My thoughts were interrupted a loud snore. I rolled my eyes. Beside me, Dakota was passed out and drooling. _That's what he gets for drinking so much Kool-Aid. He knows what it does to him. _On my right (though we were separated by the walkway), Bobby was sleeping to. Or at least he looked like he was. This jet came with some music, and there were ear buds in Bobby's ears. Gwen was reading a book- in English I might add. How she did that, I have no idea. I can't stand reading. The words float away and my mind wonders. I hate reading, even if it's in Latin.

I glanced at the clock. _Whoa, it's already been an hour._ _I can't believe I used a whole hour just thinking…_ That almost never happens. I usually can't concentrate that long on one thing.

I looked over at Percy and Nico. Their eyes were shut tight, their knuckles were white from gripping the arm of the chair (for what was probably an hour), and their lips were moving. I think they were muttering prayers to… Wow. They kept saying different names. They must really hate being in the air. That or they were afraid Jupiter would blast them out of the sky.

Or was it Zeus? Since they were Greek and everything…

_Speaking of Zeus… _I made sure no one was paying attention to me. When I was sure we wouldn't be bothered, I carefully walked over to Thalia. She was sitting in her chair in an awkward position. She sat so her back was facing the window and her legs were tucked under her. She also had ear buds in, so when I walked up, she didn't see me or hear me until I tapped on her shoulder.

"Um, hey." I wanted to slap my forehead. _Wow, way to sound so smart… _To add insult to injury, I think I'm blushing. _This makes such a good impression. Way to go Jason. Way to go. _

Thalia looked at me. Besides looking slightly queasy, her eyes flashed a look of terror mixed in with confusion. "Oh. Uh, hey." Her voice sounded natural though. She's a better actor. _Or is it actress? Oh, whatever, just get to the point Jason! _

"Can we… Um… Can we talk?"

"About what?" Now her voice sounded guarded.

"I think you know what about."

She looked a bit nervous. "I don't think I do." She hesitated a bit too long before answering.

"Um…" _Aw Pluto! Now what? _Suddenly an idea came to me. It was the best thing I could think of- and the safest. If she wasn't who I thought she was, she'd have no idea what it was and I would walk away without looking too much like a fool…if I didn't already. I took a deep breath and got down on both knees. Since the floor was so soft, my knees didn't hurt at all. I felt like I was resting on a cloud. Thalia raised her eyebrow and drew her head back. Her look told me I had about five seconds before she would probably slap me for being too close.

I pulled the necklace out from my shirt, the ring clinging to it. "Are you sure you don't know?"

Thalia's eyes widened and she turned in her chair so she was facing me, her eyes intent on the ring. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

The silence only lasted a few second because I didn't want to waste any time alone that we had. _But what do you say in a situation like this?_ I had no clue as to what to do, so I just said the thing that popped into my head first.

"I have an irrational fear of staples."

_Oh wow. Jason, you are the biggest idiot ever. I mean, it's not like that was creepy or anything… _

Surprisingly, she laughed. It was quiet, like she didn't really want to laugh, but what I said was so funny she couldn't help it. Seeing her smile, made me smile. She brought a finger to my lips and traced the tiny scar near my upper lip.

"Eating a staple would probably do that to someone."

I grabbed her hand. It felt warm. I didn't want to let go.

"You're my…" I didn't want to say it out loud. It seems stupid, but I felt that saying it out loud might make it un-true. "We're…related, aren't we?" I looked down, afraid of what she would say. _Would she deny it? Am I just a stupid teenager who misses his older sister?_

I felt someone squeeze my hand. I looked up to see Thalia giving me a sad smile. She looked as if she was deep in a memory that was both sad and wonderful. Her eyes were shinning in the 'I-might-cry-soon' kind of way.

"When's your birthday?"

That caught me off guard. "What?"

"When's your birthday?" She asked again, this time a bit pushier.

"Uh, December 18."

Thalia was unnaturally still. She was just watching me. Waiting… _But for what?_

I tried to fill in the silence. "I just turned fifteen today."

Thalia narrowed her eyes and looked as though she was concentrating. Finally she said, "Do you remember Bundle?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Bundle? My stuffed bunny? Yeah I remember him…" I paused, but decided to say it anyway, "You gave him to me."

Thalia's face broke out into a huge grin, "Then yeah. We are related."

With her other hand (I was still holding her right hand), she swept some of my hair out of my face.

My mind and body suddenly ached for this, the tender brother/sister moments that I missed.

"H-how…?" I couldn't finish the sentence. Seems I didn't have to. After all these years, we still had out connection.

"I don't know." Thalia was whispering now and I had a feeling it wasn't just because she didn't want anyone else to hear. "I left for five- less than five, more like three- minutes and then… You were just…gone." Tears seemed to be flowing from behind her eyes. I knew that if not for being trained and raised by Lupa, I would've started bawling right then and there. I still had the urge to throw my arms around her and just hug her. Part of me was still convinced that this wasn't real. I want to disprove that, but I wasn't sure if I should- hug her, I mean. Is there rules? How long until you can hug your sister whom you haven't seen for more than ten years without it being awkward?

"I know I was only two, but I've missed you so much." It sounded so cheesy, but what would you say if you're long-lost sister suddenly appeared?

"I've never forgot about you. Even after I…" she faltered a bit. "You never left my mind."

I was curious as to what she meant. _Even after I... What? After I what? _But I didn't want to push her. We both were close to tears and if we anything alike, she didn't like to cry in front of people as much as I did, which was not much. I think only Reyna has seen me cry. And that was once…and a very long story.

We just sat there. Absorbed in our own memories and holding each other's hands. I remember the time when the power had gone out and it was raining and thundering pretty hard. Mom wasn't home yet because of the power outage. With Bundle tucked under my arm, I crawled into bed with Thalia and we told stories- well, _she _told stories- all night long. According to a two-year old, she was the best story teller, even is she was only *****seven-years old. As I was remembering this, I realized something was off. Thalia was supposed to be way older, nineteen or twenty. I'm positive of this and yet…she looked about fifteen or sixteen. Before I got the chance to answer, I heard someone moving. I looked behind me to see Bobby getting up. Thalia broke our connection. She ripped her hands out of mine and positioned herself as she was before: back to the window, feet tucked under her, arms folded, and ear buds in. I wasn't exactly sure why she did this, but I took the hint. I stood up and began walking back to my seat.

"Is the bathroom back there?" Bobby asked me when I passed him.

I nodded, "I just used it- it's really nice."

"Great! Thanks." Bobby rushed off to the door behind me.

_Oh please, father. Please let the bathroom be back there…_

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><p><strong>*Was she 7 or 12 or what? I can't remember! D: Who knows? Someone please tell me!<strong>

**Sooo? What do you think? Please tell me in your review! Everyone who read this, please put: Pickle Pickle Wickle Tickle. Why? Just cause I asked you nicely ^_^**

**Review!**

**Please and Thank You**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, so NOW I've figured out her age. All thanks to **Empty Thoughts**. And yes, people I realize Jason was two when he was kidnapped. Don't hate on my (and other people's) horrible math. It's rude. **

**So Thalia was eight when Jason was two. If you want to read more, read **Empty Thought's **review. I'm sorry for the mistake. To all those who told me, thanks for pointing out my mistake! (I mean no sarcasm, I really meant thanks!)**

**About this chapter, I STILL don't think it's very good… I tried to make it the best I could but…just see for yourself. I'm sorry, I really am :(**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

That was the worst eight hours of my life. Even worse than school. And school's both long and horrible. But _this_? This was long and horrible and scary _and_ more!

The second the wheels of the jet lifted off the ground, my knuckles automatically gripped the seat's handle. Every small jolt freaked me out. The only time I willingly opened one eye (to make sure I was still alive) I saw Nico was doing the same thing. On the other side of me, Thalia and the Blonde Guy- I mean Jason- were talking. I couldn't hear them. All I heard was myself screaming in my head. I began hyperventilating and had to close my eyes. I guess I passed out. Mental note: hyperventilating=bad.

"Pssst! Percy!"

"Hmm?" I felt something poke my arm, but it was a tentative poke. I still didn't open my eyes. I could feel my lips still forming prayers to Poseidon, Zeus, Apollo, Athena (I'm her daughter's best friend- that _has_ to count for something right?). Hades, I was even praying to God! I don't care that I don't know if He's real or not. _Someone save me! I'm too young to die!_

"P-Percy? I… I have to… Percy, w-wake up!"

Reluctantly, I opened my eyes. "What do you want, Nico?" I whispered.

Nico looked as scared as I felt. "I have to pee." He also whispered.

I glanced at the clock and inwardly groaned. _Four hours to go. _"Can you…you know…hold it?"

For a scared boy, Nico's glare still sent shivers down my spine. "If I could, do you think I would've said anything?" The only thing that kept me from freaking out too much was that fact that 1) Nico wasn't Hades, so the glare wasn't as intense and b, I mean, 2) Nico was shaking so much from fright, his voice was trembling even though we were only whispering.

"Why are you telling _me_?"

This must've looked like one strange conversation. Two boys, clenching the arms of the chairs as if our life depended on it (well, they do), and staring straight ahead, not looking at each other, yet caring on a conversation. _Gods, I hope I'm never on an airplane ever again._

"B-because… I'm… I'm…" Nico was blushing.

I took a guess, "I'm pretty freaked out to."

We were silent for a minute. _Please let me go back to being passed out. Anything, but this tor-_

"Percy… I _really _have to pee."

I groaned. Well, as much as a terrified person can groan. _Why? Nico, what did I do to you? _"Just get up and go, Nico."

"Please come with me, Percy? Pppllleeeaaassseee?"

"There is no way I'm…" I paused. "Oh gods Nico! Now _I _have to pee!"

We glanced at each other. Sensing each other's thoughts we shouted, "THALIA!"

After a pause, I head Thalia groaning, someone else groaning (Bobby?), someone shushing us (Gwen), someone laughing (Blonde Guy- I mean, Jason? I'm pretty sure it was Jason), and Dakota saying, "Some people are trying to sleep! Tacos…"

A shadow fell over me. "What?" Thalia all but growled.

"Nico and I have to pee."

Thalia snorted in disgust. "What do you want me to do?"

This time Nico spoke, "You're Zeus' daughter! Zeus wouldn't blast _you_ out of the sky! …right?"

Thalia rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to _carry _you guys to the bathroom."

"Will you shut up? Some people are _trying_ to sleep!" Bobby shouted.

"Yeah!" Dakota piped up, "And dreaming about things like Kool-Aid…" His voice drifted off while he fell back asleep. "NO! No Kool-Aid! Don't… Don't go into the light!"

"Need some help?" A new voice asked.

But I wasn't paying attention. Now, because of Nico, I really had to pee _and _my hands were still gripping the chair's arm _and _my eyes were shut tight _and_ our pilot just said something over the intercom about turbulence. _I hate my life._

"What are you guys doing anyway?"

After a very heated internal debate with myself I reluctantly opened my eyes to look at the face of the person speaking, which just so happened to be Jason. "We're holding on for dear life."

Jason had a bemused expression on, "Why?"

"Because of your father, that's why!" Nico was shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"I'll explain it later," I heard Thalia say, "Could you just help me with these two? If we don't do something, they're just going to complain for the rest of the flight."

"Sure," Jason said at the same time Nico muttered, "Not true." I resisted the urge to say, "Is true." Somehow I managed.

Suddenly, my fingers felt strange. I looked down to see Jason trying to pry them off the arms of the chair.

"Percy, you might want to…let go," Jason voice sounded strained. _I'm not _that _strong, am I?_

After watching Jason struggle for a bit, I let go of my fingers. It was difficult considering that every part of my body was screaming at me that I was going to die because of it. Once my fingers weren't griping anything anymore, I slowly got up. My legs felt wobbling, but grabbing on to Jason's arms helped. It was awkward, having him led me to the bathroom, but I was too afraid that if I let go of his arm the floor of the plane would open up and I would fall down to my death.

I felt better about how scared I was when I noticed Nico. He was literally clinging on to a not-so-happy Thalia's back as if he were a little kid. _Actually, he still _is _a little kid. _Sometimes I forgot about that. No matter when Nico was born or how tough he acted or even who his father was, Nico was still only about twelve years old.

"Um, I can handle this from now one," I said when we were standing in from of the bathroom. Jason looked as uncomfortable as I felt. After a moment's hesitation, I let go of his arm and rushed into the bathroom. As soon as I was done, I rushed back out and went back to gripping his arm. "Done. Let's go back to the seat now please." Under normal circumstances, I bet Jason would've laughed at how a boy older than him was scared. But this wasn't a normal circumstance. Nothing really is anymore. I'm a demigod, but more specifically the son of the sea god. Sea and air don't really mix in the demigod world. I don't care that Apollo said Nico and I have permission to be in the air, what if Zeus changed his mind? He's the head Olympian, he _could _change his mind! I think I had a right to be scared. And if anyone laughed, the minute we touch the ground (after I thank every god who helped get me back on the ground safely of course), I would kick that person's butt with my awesome sword-fighting skills.

"So why are you so scared of planes again?" Jason asked when we were about halfway to my seat.

"It's not planes, it's," I made a huge mistake by looking out the window. I immediately felt sick. Kinda like seasick, but it was more like airsick.

"Aw man, you don't look so good. You're looking a little green." Jason helped me sit back down in my chair. I hated feeling vulnerable, but I was still thankful for the help. _Maybe these Roman guys aren't so bad…_

"Just…ask…Thalia…" I had to force myself to speak every syllable. My mind was racing from horrible thoughts about me dying. Most of them revolved around this plane, but some were about me surviving this quest only to die on my original one (you know, the one with Kronos and all that?). That didn't really make me feel good. What would happen to my mom? What would happen to Annabeth? _Wait, why did I think that? We're only friends…but on the other hand…she kissed me… _

Thalia and Nico interrupted my thoughts.

"Okay Nico, now get off my back!"

"Um…"

I looked over to see Nico not letting go of Thalia. Jason had to pry him off of her. As Jason set Nico in the chair beside me, Nico asked, "How much longer until we land?"

"I think about four hours," Jason said.

"Great," Thalia threw her hands up in the air, "Four more hours of torture!"

"You think what _you're _going through is torture?" I challenged. "All _you_ have to do is make sure not to look out the window, but for _us_-"

I never got to finish because right then and there, Bobby walks- actually, more like stroms- up. "Listen people. I know that you guys are having a nice conversation and all, but if you haven't noticed, there has been a prophecy issued! And I, for one, want to get some sleep while I still can! So will you please, put a cork in your big mouths and SHUT IT!" Bobby ended his rant by giving us each a pointed look before stalking back to his chair, sitting down, and snoring almost immediately.

We were all silent for a minute. Then Jason said, "Sorry about him. He can be a bit grouchy when he hasn't got enough sleep."

"Remind me of someone else I know," I looked at Nico.

"What?" He feigned innocence.

"Oh, do _not _give us that innocent look." Thalia said harshly, but somewhat jokingly as well. _Only Thalia can do that. Only Thalia… _

"Whatever. But I think Bobby had the right idea. We should all get some sleep. Or at least," Nico looked at me, "You two should. The best Percy and I can do is pass out from breathing too quickly."

"That's a very good observation," Thalia mused. "Who knew Death Boy could be so intelligent." She paused. "Hope you sleep well then." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked back to her chair to fall asleep.

"Uh, yeah. Sleep well." Jason also left, though his departure was slightly more awkward.

I just sighed. There is no way I was going to fall asleep, so instead, I just remained as calm as I could be and focused on one specific thing. I tried many things: blue food, my mom. Mrs. O'Leary, my homework (_that _didn't last long at all), Camp Half-Blood, my father, but the only thing that really helped me remain calm was Annabeth. Just thinking about out last conversation was nice. I hope I survive. I really want to see her again.

And with that, I drifted off into an uneasy sleep. But at least I wasn't completely alone. Annabeth was there in my dreams.

The next time I woke up, we were about to land. About to begin our quest. Apollo's words echoed in my ear. _Don't fail. Especially you, Percy. You're already supposed to be Olympus' savior. Please don't die._

Encouraging. Real encouraging.

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><p><strong>Yeah, like I said, not my best one. But did you like the little bits of Percabeth I put in there? Not a lot, but some is better than none, right? :) <strong>

**BTW, check out my new story! The Animal Accident. It's about Phineas and Ferb. I love those guys! :)**

**Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I want to thank all of you for the reviews and alerts and favorites. Seriously, I love you guys! And to all those who said that you all love Nico, BACK OFF HE'S MINE! **

**Erm, that came out wrong…I meant to say…um…Oh look! There's a disclaimer! …oh, I already used this? Then… Uh… Then what I really meant to say was… OMGODS! NICO'S RIGHT OVER THERE! *everyone looks one way* *I run the other way***

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I only own my (already stated) invisible red Porsche convertible that I love and can go 100 miles over the speed limit without getting caught.**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

I woke up to Nico screaming in my ear.

_What a great way to wake up. _

Well, that was my first thought. My second was: _Oh my gods! The plane is falling! I'm going to diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!_

I wasn't in a deep sleep so I woke up almost immediately.

"What? Who? Where?" I stuttered jumping out of the chair. That was a mistake. I immediately felt queasy and had to sit back down. _I hate being airsick._

I heard the echo of feet running toward Nico and I. Thalia was first. Obvious since she was right across form where we were sitting.

"Are you guys all…" She trailed off. Normally I would've asked why she didn't finish, throwing in a bit of name calling in the mix (_Pinecone Face!_), but I didn't need to. I was practically speechless as well. But because my tongue isn't always connected to my brain, I spoke anyway. I just wasn't sure whether to laugh or continue staring in awe/fear.

"Nico... Your… Your face."

There was dead silence, but I didn't need to look behind me to know that everyone was standing there, staring at Nico's face.

"My face to?" Nico cried. "Who did this?" He turned to face us, showing us his nails.

I suppose the good thing was that whoever did it was very good at drawing tiny skulls. They got the color almost perfect to. Nico's nails were black with white skulls pained on each fingernail. The skulls were a perfect white/grey color. Then on his face was… Makeup. His eyes had a dark purple powdery stuff. _I think it's called eye color, or eye shadow or something like that. _His lips were a bright red color, which stood out on his somehow even paler skin. Whoever did this, I hate to admit, was amazing. But that doesn't mean Nico looked good. I finally decided what I should do. Apparently Thalia had the same idea. At the same time, we busted out in hysterics. Yep, we were laughing at out cousin. You would have to! _I wish I had a camera! This would be the perfect blackmail! _

"Guys!" Nico whined. "This is not funny!"

"Oh yes it is, Death Boy!" Thalia said while continuing to laugh.

"Quick! Who has a camera?" My sides ached from all this laughter.

Suddenly the atmosphere changed. I didn't need to look at Nico to know he narrowed his eyes at someone.

"You," he growled.

I almost asked, "Who?" when the person answered.

"What? Why are you looking at me?" It was Bobby.

"I know you did this." I glanced at Nico. It was obvious he really wanted to get out of the chair and strangle Bobby. Too bad we're still in the air.

"So what if I did?" Bobby shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not like you can get out of the chair. You're just a big baby." He said the last part and I know it was directed at me to. I narrowed my eyes as well and this time, he looked a little bit scared. And even though he couldn't see it, out of the corner of my eye I saw Thalia narrow her eyes to. I knew what she was thinking. No one messes with her cousins except her. Honestly, I'm touched. I didn't know she cared _that _much. I'm not being sarcastic. It's just the way the Big Three Kids roll; we love each other so much, but we show it by violence and embarrassing one another.

_Wait, what we were talking about again? Oh right… I hate planes. _

Just then, as if the gods were sending us a sign, the pilot voice over the intercom came on, "So guys, we have arrived at your destination. Athens, Rome. Great place. You can get off the plane in about fifteen minutes." The intercom crackled. I'm guessing he sighed, "I would ask you to sit down, but seeing as how your demigods, that would just be pointless." _He's right. _

_Now_ Bobby looked really scared. I remember his comment about being a baby. My angered flared, but before I had the chance to get up, Nico literally tackled Bobby straight from his chair. Thalia, seeing Nico tense his muscles, was wise enough to move out of the way, but the others weren't so lucky. Except Dakota who was standing farthest from Bobby, who was in the center.

And that's how Nico and Bobby got in their second fight in under twenty-four hours. Nico was shouting some pretty nasty Greek words at Bobby while Bobby was probably doing the same in Latin. They were chasing each other around, occasionally punching and kicking. Nobody interfered until Nico drew his sword.

"Whoa Nico!" I jumped out of the chair (not feeling queasy this time) and ran to break them apart. Everyone followed me. I grabbed Nico's sword hand while Thalia grabbing his other arm to help hold him back. I watched as Dakota and Gwen held Bobby's hands while Jason stepped between both sides.

"You guys need to cut this out. First in the ally and now _here_? You to have obvious problems with each other and you need to forget about them. And I mean forget about them _now_. Apollo has given us a quest that we must fulfill and we need to do it as a _team_. So calm yourselves and stop behaving like children." I noticed that when Jason spoke, the other Roman kids listened intently. Bobby even looked slightly ashamed. _I wonder if I speak with that much authority... _Jason then turned to Nico, "You need to put that sword away."

Nico bristled, "You can't tell me what to do!"

I resisted the urge to smack him. _Children of Hades and their stupid egos… _Fortunately, I can usually get Nico to listen to me. Hopefully he'll actually do what I ask him…unlike last time. _Please let this work. _

I stepped in front of Nico so I was also in the middle. "But _I _can. And Jason's right. Nico, put that sword away," I waited, but Nico just glared at me. "Nico put that sword away before I make you put that sword away." Nico mumbled something about 'not being scared' and 'stupid Percy' before twisting his ring causing his sword to vanish in a cloud of black smoke. He was still glaring at me, but at least he listened. _I feel so accomplished right now! Annabeth would be proud- Ack! Wrong time, Percy! Concentrate! _I took a deep breath to refocus my scattered mind. "Okay guys," I felt more like myself now that I knew the plane was grounded, "We need to find a place to get food and make a plan. Anyone ever been to Athens before?" Gwen raised her hand. I grinned, "Okay, Gwen, lead the way."

Xx~oOo~xX

_**Gwen POV**_

It took about ten minutes to wash the makeup completely off Nico's face, but Thalia and I were finally able to do it. Then came the nails. That took about fifteen minutes, but finally, Nico looked normal. We walked out of the bathroom with Nico still glaring at Percy, who was laughing along with Dakota and Jason. Bobby just stood there with his arms folded across his chest and scowling.

"Okay," Jason tried to keep a straight face, "So Nico, Bobby will apologize, if you-" He couldn't finish he was laughing so hard. Percy couldn't open his mouth without another wave of laughter coming out, so Dakota tried to speak.

"If you promise not to attack him anymore."

"But he started it!" Nico protested. After Thalia glared at Nico, he backtracked, "I mean, I promise not to attack you anymore without valid cause. I swear it on the River Styx." Thunder could be heard. Nico didn't look too happy about it. "Okay, you're turn."

"I'm sorry," Bobby mumbled.

"No, Bobby," Percy said, "Just like we practiced.

Bobby sighed. "I hate you guys," he mumbled. "Okay fine. I'm sorry that my little sister makes me do her nail every week. I'm sorry I got so good. I'm sorry I painted your nails. And I'm especially sorry for provoking you."

Nico just sighed, "Okay."

Bobby cocked his head in confusion, "You're not going to say 'I forgive you'?"

Nico looked thoughtful. "No."

Bobby looked as though he would protest again, but Thalia said, "Trust me. That's one of his better apologies."

Percy nodded with Nico grinned mischievously. I decided to speak up before we were hear for another hour.

"Okay guys, I know where we should go. You ready?" They all nodded. "Follow me!"

_**One Hour Later **_

I lead the group to my favorite little restaurant in the country part of Athens. It was owned by my Uncle (my mom's dad) and his wife. In fact, this was where my mom met my dad. She was singing in this dinner. She wasn't Carrie Underwood or anything, but she was still pretty good. Unfortunately, I am not. Seriously, you do _not _want to hear me sing. But if you wanted to hear the piano, the guitar, or even the piccolo, I'm you're girl.

Where was I? Oh yeah…

The whole time we were walking to the restaurant, _Little Ray of Apollo_ it was called. I think that's what caught my dad's attention. After all, my dad _is _Apollo. It was named after him. My Uncle thought 'Little Ray of Sunshine' was just too… Well, his exact words were 'stupid' however, I prefer the term 'unoriginal.'

_Ugh, stupid ADHD. _

So as I was saying, as I lead the way to the restaurant, I kept replaying in my head the scene in the jet. Jason's praetor, so him stepping up to break Bobby and Nico apart wasn't so surprising. And I know that I said Percy seemed like the leader. But I meant in that group. Inside the jet, Percy seemed…like more of an authority. He suddenly changed from 'a bit clueless' to 'I am in charge, you _will _do what I say or I'll clobber you.' Though he still seemed kind. It was kinda like Jason actually. Firm and scary, yet nice and fun. _Reyna could never be like this… _

"Are we there yet?"

I sighed, "Not since you asked five minutes ago, Bobby."

"But my feet hurt!"

I heard a snort. I turned to see Nico mutter, "Baby."

"How do you know this place?" This time it was Dakota.

"My uncle. He moved here about fifty years ago when he married his wife, Cleo. I've visited him for two weeks every summer since I was a baby."

"Cool."

It was silent for a moment. I watched the Greeks out of the corner of my eye. Okay, I watched Percy. Now that he wasn't leading or stopping a fight, he seemed like a normal teenager with normal problems. I have a hunch that the next time there's a fight he'll go back to the authority attitude. His eyes will get that fire in them and…well, I saw him fighting that Manticore and let me tell you, that was scary. And I didn't see the whole thing; I was fighting that thing to.

"Is that it?"

_Speak of the devil… _"Yep. Percy, everyone, this is my uncle's little restaurant, _Little Ray of Apollo_."

"_Little Ray of Apollo_? That's ironic," Thalia began laughing.

I still felt a little uncomfortable with her. She did try to kill me, but I'm trying to stay positive. For one, she _didn't _kill me. For two, I talked with her for a bit on the jet. She's kinda cool. Lieutenant of Artemis? Come on, that's awesome. I couldn't see a problem, so I laughed with her.

"Yeah. It's actually where my mom met Apollo." I opened the door, "Hey Eddie!" I waved to the cashier, "Where's Uncle Nate and Aunt Cleo?"

In bad English, Eddie answered, "Out. Need… More tomatoes." He pronounced it like 'toe-MA-toes.'

I laughed, "Okay. We'll be upstairs!" I waved everyone up the stairs where the house is. We went to my room.

After we all go situated, Nico's stomach growled. Then Percy's and Jason's. Then Thalia's.

"Better make this quick," Percy said. "I'm starving! And that food smells so good!" He sniffed the air and moaned. "Anyone got a plan?"

"Wait, you don't?" Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he isn't the leader. I know Jason and Reyna always have plans.

Percy shrugged with Nico and Thalia laughed. "Of coursed he doesn't!" Thalia snickered, "They're always horrible!"

"They never work out as he plans," Nico chimed in, "He normally just wings it."

"Way to make me sound so great guys," Percy pouted. But Thalia gave him a shoulder nudge and he broke out into a grin.

"I think I might have an idea,"

_Oh great… _

"Dakota," Bobby was rolling his eyes, "No offense, but you're ideas are stupid."

Dakota shrugged, "You could still hear it."

Jason gave me a look that said, _Here we go again… _

"What's the worst that can happen?" Percy mused.

Dakota hiccupped, "What if we search for the monster the same way that people search for lost pets?"

And there it was. Dakota's big genius plan.

"That's actually a good idea."

I was shocked to see it was Thalia that spoke. Noticing everyone gapping (including Dakota) at her, she hurried on, "I mean, if we listen to the rumors and ask people if anything strange has been going on, we might get a clue as to what and where this creature is."

Jason and Percy nodded. I found that kinda creepy.

"What's the prophecy again?" They asked at the same time. I found that very creepy. They both looked at each other in a bit of a shock, but recovered quickly.

"Seven shall go across the sea/Greek and Roman they shall be/Find the creature of both day and night/And destroy it before it can bite. /For this creature is like no other/And it will prey on those with friends you call brothers/So beware and take heed/This creature is not like you and me." Bobby said.

Nico rolled his eyes at Bobby's memory, but didn't say anything.

"Maybe we should pack some stuff before we leave?" Thalia suggested.

"Maybe we should eat before we leave," Percy said hopefully.

I laughed. "We can do both, follow me guys!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Hiya folks! I've been super busy. Seriously, this has been my busiest month so far. I hated not updating, but I also had a small case of writer's block. However, the writer's block is gone! Hope you all like this. Please forgive me for not updating sooner! Here's a cookie (::) I love you all!**

**Randomness: OH MY GOOOOOODSSSSSS! The Serpent's Shadow comes out tomorrow! Ahhhh! I'm so excited :D :D :D :D :D **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

This. Is. Elysium.

Seriously. I think I died and went to Elysium. I kid not.

Best food ever!

"Mmmm… Gwen. This is some serious food!" I didn't even know what the heck I was eating. It was delicious!

Gwen grinned as she took a bite of her food. "My uncle makes the best Tortellini Soup, am I right?"

"You _are _right!" Thalia exclaimed, grabbing another pizza. "And this pizza is to die for!"

Nico frowned, "I think I've had better." He spoke quietly to himself, his voice sad and disappointed. I don't think he intended for anyone to hear, but because I was sitting right next to him, I heard. I heard the pain in his voice. Sometimes I forget that Nico couldn't remember his past. I automatically wanted to reach over and rub his back, but I knew he would only push me away. He hated affection. Well, that's what he wants everyone to think. I know he likes some level of it, but not too much. Nico looked at his plate, his eyebrows furrowing together as if it would help him remember. After a few seconds he spoke, in a loud and clear voice, "The best I ever had!"

Dakota tipped his bowl, in attempt to get the last drop, and promptly fell over. Everyone laughed, while Dakota kept making slurping noises into his near empty bowl.

Jason helped Dakota get back up, but it was obvious he wanted to keep laughing. "Here you go, Dakota."

Dakota hiccupped, "Thanks." He reached for the last Kool-Aid, but I quickly grabbed it instead.

"Oh, no you don't!" I stuck the straw into the pouch and gulped it down. "We need everyone _focused_ to make a plan." I looked pointedly at Dakota, "That means no more Kool-Aid."

"Aw, Percy!" Dakota whined, "That's so not fair!" He reached for the Kool-Aid, but I squeezed the last of the juice out into my mouth. "No! Jason! Jason, make him give it back!" He began to crawl over the table, but I help the empty, thoroughly squeezed pouch of now non-existent Kool-Aid. "Perrrrrcyyyy!" Dakota moaned.

Bobby and Gwen immediately burst out laughing. Jason tried to look dignified, but he ended up rolling on the floor along with them. Nico and Thalia were barely sitting in their chairs. I would've been right along with them, but I was a bit preoccupied. Dakota wouldn't give up!

"Guys, a little help?"

They kept laughing. I sighed. _I have to do everything myself don't I?_ I elbowed him in the shoulder, causing him to gasp in, what I presume, pain. He leaned away, clutching his shoulder, a look of shock etched on his face. I don't really know what I expected him to do. Get angry, tackle me, shove me back, pull out his own weapon and start hacking me… _Hey, I just realized that I don't really know their weapons. I should've paid more attention when we were fighting that monster. Wait a minute, we were fighting a monster! I couldn't have paid any attention to them unless I wanted to die! Wait a minute, Dakota's saying something…_

"…do that?"

"Uh, could you repeat that?"

Everyone howled with laughter which was even more loud and obnoxious than before.

Dakota pouted his lips. I hope I don't look like that. He looked like someone trying to do something cute (or handsome), and they're not really cute (or handsome). Add a little bit of drunkenness and you have an idea of what Dakota looked like.

"Why'd you do that? That hurt." He rubbed his shoulder.

I bit back my laughter. He sounded like a little kid. The others however, weren't so kind. They began laughed even harder than before. _How is that even possible? _

I shrugged, "Sorry?" My voice was a bit higher than usual. That's what happens when you're trying to hold in a laugh. Remarkably, I didn't laugh. How I managed that is a very good question. But I don't like questions, plus we have business to discuss, so I won't dwell on stupid, useless things. Like questions. They remind me of school. I absolute hate school. All the teachers want you to do is learn, learn, learn and take quizzes and tests, and tests and quizzes. Blah, blah, blah. Who cares? Besides Annabeth and her super smart siblings I mean. Oh, is that silence I hear? Exactly. No one cares about school.

My thoughts were interrupted by Jason, who was the first person to calm down.

"Okay… Okay guys. We've clamed," a snicker escaped his mouth, but he quickly recovered himself, "We've all calmed down," he glanced pointedly around.

Bobby and Gwen shut up immediately even though it was obvious they were holding their breaths so they wouldn't laugh. Nico and Thalia quieted down, but they were still laughing. Just more silently. And by that I mean that they were laughing so hard no noise was coming out of them other than the occasional whisper-laugh. You know what I mean, right?

After about a minute, Jason continued. He probably realized that they wouldn't do as he orders. First off, I'm sure he's younger than me. A year at tops. Thalia doesn't pay attention to _anyone_ younger than her. _Unless it's Artemis in her twelve-year old form, of course. _And Nico… He's a son of Hades, what do you expect? Total submission to anyone and everyone? Yeah, right. I don't do that and I'm the nicest of the three!

"So let's start formulating a plan. We already know we're going to ask the natives questions about anything unusual, but we need to have a plan after we find…"

That's where I left the building.

Not literally. My mind just wondered. As I was drifting through space, otherwise known as 'wibbly wobbly timey wimy stuff' **(A/N Doctor Who FTW! Oh, I don't own that quote. That is all property of the Tenth Doctor) **I noticed that Nico and Thalia had that same look in their eyes. I was half surprised that Jason didn't notice, considering he was sitting right next to Thalia, but I was only half surprised. The other half of me wanted the non-ADHD part of me to shut up so it could enjoy the beautiful moments of ADH- _Ooo! More breadsticks!_

Xx~oOo~xX

I was munching breadsticks in bliss when all of a sudden, I was rudely interrupted by a poke in the side, which caused me to yelp, give a weird twitch, and fall off the chair onto the floor.

"Percy! Percy, Wake up!"

I rubbed my head (the floor hurt!), "I'm awake! I'm awake!" I gingerly got up, "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes," Jason looked at me with a mixture of amusement and anger. It was as if I was the younger one and I did something wrong. I hate feeling that way. "Help us wake up Thalia and Nico," Jason said as he ignored my glare.

I glanced over at the two. Nico's head was lying on the table and Thalia was leaning against her chair looking at the ceiling.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Bobby snorted. "You guys are so lazy. We came up with the perfect plan and you three totally zoned out! You are going to help us wake your other friends up."

I shook my head. "No. I like my face the way it is, thanks." I walked to the other side of the room, but I was still facing them so I could get a good view of the action that's about to start. "You guys wake them up."

They stared at me for a second before rolling their eyes and separating into two groups. Jason and Gwen tried to wake Thalia while Bobby and Dakota went to Nico. I'm not sure who to feel sorrier for.

Thalia punched Gwen in the nose and had her arrow pointed at Jason's chest before her eyes even focused. Nico put Bobby in a shadow lock (the shadows wrapped around him and bound him) before he even lifted his head off the table. But with Dakota, Nico lifted his head and shoved his sword to his throat.

I was in the corner laughing. This is why no one messes with us.

"Jason? Oh my gods! I'm sorry!" Thalia quickly lowered her bow and it, along with her arrows, disappeared to…wherever it is Hunter stuff disappears to.

_Wait. Did Thalia just… Apologize?_

Thalia caught me staring at her. "What?"

"The world is ending," I replied.

"Huh?"

"Percy…" Nico lowered his own sword and scooted toward me. "Did… Did Thalia just _apologize_?"

"I'm right here you know!" Thalia crossed her arms, "And I apologize… Just not often."

Gwen rubbed her nose, "Ow."

"Get used to it!" Thalia snapped. "Serves you right for waking me up!"

I caught Nico's eye. He nodded. _We are definitely going to have to find out what's going on with Thalia and Jason. _

"Get these blasted shadow things off of me!" Bobby was still struggling in the corner. I tried to contain my laugh. I couldn't.

Nico was laughing to, but he managed to release Bobby without accidently chocking him. "Sorry."

Bobby glared, "No you're not."

"Okay!" I stepped between them. "Before we have yet another fight, let's get on that plan shall we?"

"Right," Jason stepped forward, "Wait, where did the bow and arrows go?"

_Nice to know I'm not the only one who has ADHD moments…_

Thalia shrugged. "I don't know. Artemis doesn't really specify and we don't really care."

"Artemis? We? What?" Jason looked so confused.

"Why should he care?" Nico whispered to me. I shrugged. I honesty had no idea and I didn't like how he took an interest in my cousin. My 'sworn-off-of-men' cousin.

"Artemis is… I don't know her Roman name. She's the goddess of the moon, Apollo's twin sister-"

"Diana?" Jason looked horrified. "You're a Hunter of _her_?"

"Dude, Jason," Dakota clapped Jason's shoulder, "Calm down bro. Why should it matter?"

In response, Jason shook his head. "It… it doesn't. Never mind. Um, so back to the plan-"

"Oo! I have a plan," Nico jumped up and down excitedly. "Why don't we ask around the village about anything strange, we go to that place, we find the beast and kill it!"

I rolled my eyes. "Nico, I'm pretty sure that after like, what an hour?" I glanced at the clock, "Yep. After an hour, they probably came up with a fancier plan." I looked at the Romans expectantly. No one said anything. "Or… Not?"

Jason's cheeks started turning red. "Well, we tried to come up with something else, but we couldn't think of anything."

"It took you an _hour _to come up with a plan like… Like that?" Thalia shook her head disapprovingly. "We wasted so much time. It's a good thing we don't have a deadline."

"But then why didn't you wake us up earlier?" Nico asked.

Jason looked down, "Uh… We kinda forgot you guys were there."

"WHAT?" We all shouted.

"Well, you guys were so quiet…" Gwen started.

"And we were really getting into making the plan…" Bobby added.

"And we just forgot that there were more people here," Dakota finished.

"I'll give you one thing," Jason said, "You guys can sure tune out shouting."

I grinned, "It's a gift."

"Especially with Annabeth," Nico grumbled.

"Hey!" Thalia and I shouted. _Wait, why did I shout that?_

"Annabeth can be annoying, but she's my _friend_, Nico! I'm the only one to tell her that!" Thalia glared at Nico.

"Fine. What's you're excuse Percy?" Nico asked wriggling his eyebrows.

"Um…" I blushed. "Same reason." It sounded lame even to me.

Nico bust out in laughter and was shortly joined in by Thalia. "Sure Percy. Suuuuurrrrre…"

"Uh, what?" Bobby asked.

"Nothing!" I snapped at him. "Okay, so we have a plan. Let's go." I stormed out the door. After a moment, I heard footsteps.

"So now what?" Dakota asked.

"We split up?" Gwen questioned.

"We might get more ground that way," Jason nodded.

"Especially if we get lost," I said. "No, I say we go together."

"We're too big a group. People would get suspicious." Jason countered.

"But what if there was a monster attack? We all need to be together!"

"Boys, boys," Gwen stepped in between us. I just now realized we were unconsciously stepping closer to each other.

"Look," Gwen continued, "You both have a point. But I'm sure if there's a group of three and a group of four, no monster would attack. And if they did, well you three have survived right?" Unwillingly, I nodded. "So I'll take a group of four that way," she pointed to the right of the café, "There's a village a little ways down there. We'll ask people there. Then the other three will stay here and do the same. Kapish?"

I sighed, "Okay, fine. I'll stay here. Knowing me, I'll most likely get lost."

"I'll stay here to. Same reason," Nico said.

Jason looked less likely to agree with Gwen, but he finally gave it. "Fine. I'll go with you."

"I'm ganna stay here," Dakota said. "I don't wanna walk."

"I guess that means we go with them," Thalia said to Bobby.

Bobby shrugged. "Guess so."

Before they walked off, Thalia nodded to me and Nico. It was short and quick, but we knew what she meant. She'll find out more about these Romans. When her back was turned, Nico gave me a look. I knew that one to. Thalia sure is acting strange about Jason.

Xx~oOo~xX

**(So I was going to stop here, but I figured I'll keep writing a bit more to make up for not updating. Enjoy!)**

_**Jason POV**_

It took about half an hour to walk to the village. That whole time, I was dying to ask Thalia more questions, but I couldn't in front of Gwen and Bobby. I final got my chance when they went into the bookstore to ask while we stayed out in the street.

"You're a Hunter?"

Thalia sighed. "Why does it matter?"

"You'll never die."

Thalia raised her eyebrow, "How is that a problem?"

"You'll never get old," I continued.

"I don't see- Oh."

"I just found you. I don't want to lose you again by something as stupid as age." It sounded crazy, but that's how I felt. She has this whole other family now. And besides the Hunter's, she has Percy and Nico and someone named Annabeth. How would she have room for me?

"Jason," Thalia started.

"Are you asking about those lost children?"

Someone walked up to us. It was a young boy, about seven or eight with dark red hair.

"Uh, no." I shook my head. "We were talking about the missing animals."

"You see," Thalia added, "Our dog is missing and we want to know if it's by the same creature as that took the other animals."

We have our cover story perfectly. The kid narrowed his eyes. I noticed they were different colors. One was blue and one was…

"But what's this about missing kids?" Thalia asked.

"Oh, two of them disappeared," The kid looked around nervously. It happened in broad daylight, but no one saw anything."

Thalia shook her head. "That's strange. We've been asked around and no one mentioned anything about two kids." Thalia whispered to me. "When were they taken?" she asked the boy.

Suddenly, it hit me.

The boy turned to us, his look of terror disappeared and it was replaced by amusement.

_Red. _

"Right now."He started to grow as well. No, not grow. Age. He was now about middle aged, but extremely well-fit. He began laughing and that's when I ran.

_His other eye is red. _

I could hear Thalia breathing beside me. As we weaved in and out of people, I realized no one was paying us the slightest hint of attention. _It's got to be the mist. _

I don't know how, but I found myself back in front of the bookstore again. I was panting, but the boy- who is now a man- looked as though he didn't even move.

He shook his head, "Tsk, Tsk. For children of the Big Three, you sure are stupid."

The last thing I remember was the man hitting us with something. It wasn't painful, but my legs immediately crumpled underneath me and my vision went black. I hit the pavement. Hard. I heard another thump beside me. I'm guessing it was Thalia. Before I completely blacked out, I head my name being called. Mine and Thalia's.

Gwen and Bobby saw it. They can tell Percy and the others. We'll be saved.

If they aren't taken to, that is.

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><p><strong>I did mention I loved you all right? Do you still love me? Even though I was late updating and I left a HUGE cliffhanger? Here, take another cookie (::) <strong>

**Randomness: This story was 2,898 words long! Amazing right? :D**

**REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Writer's block just sucks doesn't it? Well, at least it's gone now! I'm so sorry it took so long, but now the hectic sophomore school days are behind me and I have all of summer to look forward to! And you know what summer means? MORE UPDATES! :D **

****SPOILER ALTER FOR KANE CHRONICLES BOOK THREE****

**Oh. My. Gods! I read **_**The Serpent's Shadow **_**and when I read Drew and Lacy's names, I squealed! Do you guys think there will be a crossover book? I know he said he wouldn't have one, but that was on 2010! A lot can happen in two years! I really, really, really, really hope he makes a crossover! Even if it's just one book, I'm game for that! :D**

****END OF SPOLIER ALTER****

**Randomness: Have you guys heard of **_**The Mortal Instruments**_**? Awesome book series! (Not as awesome as PJO of course.) I bought the fifth book, but I have to reread the whole entire series before I can actually read it. One down, three to go (before I can read the fifth one)! Does anyone else do that? **

**More Randomness: This idea for the chapter came to me in the shower… I guess it really **_**is **_**the best place to think! Lol ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Criminal Minds, but they're both awesome!**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

_What have I done to deserve this? How much humiliation can one guy take and it wasn't even his fault! I can't believe how low I stooped. My mom would so freak if she ever found out. Annabeth would probably have a heart attack… I will never speak of this day again. _

As if reading my thoughts, Nico whispered to me, "Percy… This _never _happened. Agreed?"

I glanced over at the unconscious Dakota and nodded. "Agreed."

What were we doing? Well, _we_, meaning Nico and I, weren't doing anything. I swear. It was Dakota. I'm not trying to be a tattle tale or whatever. It. Was. His. Idea. Nico and I just got stuck with cleanup.

It started about two hours ago. Nico and I watching in silent horror (and surprise) as Dakota and some random Asian tourist wrestled over some Kool Aid. Now, I've seen all sorts of fighting for all sorts of reasons (public school in New York…enough said), but what was happening right here? It was… Something else.

So it started when an Asian tourist guy took out a pack of Kool Aid and started handing them out to some people. The said people were also Asians, so obviously, they came in a group. Since we, meaning Dakota, Nico, and myself, have been in the hot sun for about three hours asking random people if there's been anything weird going on (which there has actually- animals have gone missing, but more on that later) decided to ask the nice Asians if they would share.

Let me tell you something. Asians with spiky hair, a spiked dog color, and combat boots wearing cargo pants and an under armor shirt… _Their _nice. The guy even offered us some fruite snakes. However, the little old lady? Not so much.

The guy we asked said something in Asian and handed Nico and I one. However, before he could give one to Dakota, a little old Asian woman with granny hair and false teeth (I'll tell you how I know in a minute) came over and wacked the Asian guy with her cane. She started speaking in rapid Asian and snatched the Kool Aid right out of Dakota's hands.

Have you ever seen a Dionysus kid angry? Well good.

Dakota, at first, stared at the woman in shock. I almost laughed at his expression. It was as if he couldn't believe anyone in the world could be so mean to take Kool Aid right out of his precious little hands (his hands aren't actually little though). Then, his confusion turned to rage and before I could do anything, he lunged at the woman. As the two fell to the ground, a cloud of dust began to rise. I couldn't see anything and I began to cough up my lung (not literally, meta… Mesa… Uh… Some big word that Annabeth would know, but I don't since I'm not a stuck up child of Athena… Oh gods! Don't tell her I said that!). Beside me, I could hear Nico coughing as well.

"What the Hades Dakota?" Nico rasped out.

When the dust settled, I watched in awe as Dakota and the granny, who was surprisingly agile for the age she looked (about… I'd say 80). Dakota kept reaching for the Kool Aid while Granny constantly hit him on the head with her cane. Then they would roll around and repeat the whole 'hit-Dakota-on-the-head-with-the-cane' process all over again. This continued for several minutes until Granny somehow got away, jumped on her motorized scooter and took off. Did that stop Dakota? Nope! Not at all. He jumped up and began running after her.

Now I'm a trained fighter. My ADHD helps me to react quickly when I need it while also heightening my senses. So I can never stay still. But I can tell you right now, that whole time, I stood as still as a rock. Even after they took off, I stood frozen in my spot. My brain was still process what had happened. Unfortunately, it gets worse.

I finally gathered enough brain cells to glance at Nico. He glanced back. Then, we looked at the other Asian guys who were also speechless. Something passed between us and, no we didn't fight each other. We ran after them. I think I saw one guys with a video camera.

Now _here _is where it gets bad. Following the path of destruction, we found the wresting duo in the middle of a store. Apparently, the Granny's scooter zoomed through the window of a bookstore (now you know why Annabeth would have had a heart attack). The pages of books were flying everywhere and in the very center of the store, in the center of the crowd of people who gathered to watch them, were Dakota and Granny. Her cane apparently long gone, she was now hitting him with her teeth. Yep, I saw her take her teeth out of her mouth and start pounding on Dakota.

In all its grossness, it was kinda entertaining. I raised my own Kool Aid pouch at the same time as Nico did and we took a sip.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes of them wrestling, Dakota finally managed to grab the Kool Aid. He shouted with joy and ran out of the bookstore, pushing down several people as he ran by. Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived. He ran out of the bookstore, down the street a couple feet, and took a nose dive right into a fountain, knocking himself out cold.

I wanted to leave him there. I mean, after all he did, I didn't really want to stand up and say, "Yep, I knew him! This crazy guy who trashed this bookstore and fought an old lady for a silly pouch of Kool Aid… Yeah, he's my friend!"

Beside me Nico sighed, "We're ganna have to get him aren't we?"

I didn't answer. I didn't have to. Reluctantly, we dragged ourselves to the fountain, both our faces red with embarrassment, dragged our unconscious friend out of the fountain, and then dragged said friend (though I'm thinking more like 'acquaintance' now) back to the restaurant.

The whole way back to the restaurant, I could feel the stares and hear the whispers of everyone we passed.

_The minute Dakota wakes up I'm going to clobber him! I hope the others had more luck than us. _

The Asian guy from before caught up with us. I was afraid we was going to hit us or something, but instead, he gave us a bag with three pouched of Kool Aid and three gummy fruit snack. He said something in bad English that sounded like, "Very impaling," but I think he meant entertaining.

Nico and I finally made it back to the restaurant. Dakota didn't even stir when he we just dropped him in the grass. Nico shook his head at him before going at sitting down on the steps which guide the way toward the restaurant.

"Well," Nico sighed, "That was totally pointless."

"Not completely," I felt compelled to point out, "We found out that something's taking the animals around here."

Nico snorted. "Animals. Big deal. Now, if it were people, I can see why Apollo would be so worried, but _animals_? We have bigger issues to deal with than trying to worry about some monster that's taking animals!"

"I wonder what the creature is exactly. It doesn't sound like anything we've ever faced or I've ever heard Annabeth talk about. This thing has a totally different MO."

"MO?"

"Mode of Operation. I learned it from Criminal Minds. Awesome show. When I get to watch it that is."

"Oh okay."

We sat in silence for a while, listening to Dakota's snores. I decided to let my mind wander while we wait for Thalia and the others. Dakota's snore reminded me about the way Tyson would snore whenever he stayed at the camp cabin. Thinking of Tyson reminded me of the ocean. I remember the one time my mom and I visited the beach house at Montauk. **(A/N I don't remember if Montauk was a lake or an ocean. For the sake of this story, we're going to say it's a lake, but it connects to the ocean. Thanks!**)

I was nine, three years before everything changed. My mom was sitting in a beach chair, reading a magazine while I was playing in the waves. Usually she watched me and makes sure I don't get too far out or get caught in a rip current, but she fell asleep. She was so tired from her job and constantly trying to please Smelly Gabe, she just zonked out. I don't really remember how far out I was. Probably about a half a mile. I dove under the waves trying to find the perfect shell to give to my mother when I saw a young girl. She looked about fifteen and was slightly transparent, but now I know it was because her skin was the color of the water. There was a boy with her, roughly the same age. The strange part was they both had tails. Staring at the tails brought up mixed feelings. The tails were both frightening and beautiful, elegant and powerful, alien and (strangely) a feeling of home. Like it's the most normal thing in the world, seeing people with fish tails instead of legs. As I watched them, the girl held out her hands. She was holding a big, beautiful conch shell and I knew she wanted me to give it to my mother. I didn't know how I knew, I just knew. The girl and boy smiled before turning around and swimming, rather speedily, away. I watched them for a few more seconds before deciding it was probably time I get back to the surface. As I swan back to the shore I was thinking about the strange occurrence. Mom was still asleep, when I reached her. Before I could wake her up I hear the door of the beach house open and I could smell a horrible stench. It was Smelly Gabe. I can still hear his voice telling me that I disappeared under the water and didn't come up for ages. It was such a shame I didn't die, he said. I didn't understand what he meant. No one can hold their breath that long. Of course I didn't really hold my breath, but I didn't know that at the time. He saw the shell and grabbed it out of my hands. I tried to get it back, but he just sneered at me. He took the shell back inside saying he'll sell it and get more money for us. Even at the age of nine, I knew 'us' meant him. He was always wanting more beer. When mom woke up, I told her the story. She responded by saying I had such an imagination. My mom can be very persuasive when she wants to be and, because I didn't have the shell anymore, I began to believe it, that it was only imagined. That is, until I was twelve…

It was the poking that got me out of my daydream.

"Stop it!"

"Finally!" Nico said, "I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes!"

"Well, you have it now. What do you want?" I could still hear Dakota's snoring in the background.

"Have you made up your mind yet?"

No questions asked, I knew immediately what Nico was talking about. I dreaded the times whenever Nico would bring it up. How does he expect me to answer that? "Uh... On what?"

Nico narrowed his eyes. He looked like a mini Hades only less terrifying. "You know what."

"Oh, that… Well, I um… Do you think Dakota will ever wake up?"

"Quit stalling," Nico crossed his arms.

I sighed, "No, not yet Nico."

"Well why in Hades' name not?"

"How am I supposed to decide what to do with an offer like that? No matter what I choose, the consciences could be death!" I didn't mean to shout, but whenever I tried to think about what to do about Nico's offer, I always got wound up.

"Breath? What breath? Do you got a breath mint?"

"Oh great," Nico said sourly, "_Now _you wake up."

"OW!" I rubbed the spot on my arm where Nico's fist made contact with it quit strongly. "What was that for Nico?" I demanded.

"For jinxing it!" He snapped back.

Before I could give him a snappy retort (or before Dakota could interrupt us again), I heard my name being shouted and the sound of footsteps running quickly.

"Percy!"

"Dakota!"

I could see who it was. Behind me, I heard Nico mutter, "What about my name?" but I ignored him.

As they got closer, I could distinguish who the two blobs were now. "Gwen? Bobby? What's wrong?" I looked at their faces. The looked positively devastated and absolutely scared. Not to mention extremely sweaty and dirty. _Wait. Something's missing… Someone. Two someones. _"Where's Thalia and Jason?"

The look on their faces told me everything.

"They were taken," Gwen said, tears falling out of her eyes.

"What? By who?" Nico asked.

Gwen shook her head, unable to speak the tears were coming do fast. Dakota went to put an arm around her; she began to sob in his chest.

"By the monster," Bobby said. "The monster we were sent to destroy."

Xx~oOo~xX

_**Jason POV**_

I woke up with a sharp pain in the base of my skull.

"Oh, thank the gods!"

I turned my head to the sound of the voice and winced. The sharp pain shot down my spine causing me to give an unintentional shudder.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay." Gingerly, I managed to sit up, but my head and neck were throbbing even worse than before. "Just my head hurts," I used my hand to gently rub the back of my neck to try and ease the pain- didn't really work. "Are _you_ okay Thalia?"

"I-"

"Hey! Quiet down!"

The voice was so loud and deep, it actually made me jump. Having my butt hit the cold, hard floor made me realize we were in a cell. It looked as though it was carved straight from out of the rock wall. There wasn't much lighting. In fact, there wasn't much of anything. A man walked up beside the cage and smiled.

"Well, well, well. The two children are finally awake. I can now start the dinner," he smiled, but it wasn't friendly.

"What dinner?" Thalia asked.

The man laughed. I recognized the laugh. The events of before came rushing back to me. Remembering you've been kidnapped isn't really a comforting thought, trust me.

"What dinner?" The man laughed again. "Have you seen a mirror lately? The dinner's in there!"

"You mean…" I trailed off. I didn't really want to finish my sentence.

"Animals were good for a while, taught me to hunt and to cook. But I'm a big boy now! A whole year old. Plus, the taste was getting too predictable and boring. Time to move up on the food chain! And you guys," he took out a knife and ran it across the bars of the rock cell, "Will be my first human entrée. Well," he looked thoughtful, "Technically, you will be my half human, half god entrée."

"You're the monster," Thalia accused. If it wasn't for the fact that she was right beside me and I could feel her shaking, I could've wondered how she remained so calm.

"Monster is such a harsh word. I prefer to call myself Onocentaurus."

"Um, that means 'monster' in Latin," I said wearily. I didn't really want him to break my arm for saying that.

Instead, he laughed. "Oh, really? Well then I suppose you can call me monster if you want. You're not going to live too long anyway." He laughed again and wondered deeper in the cave. I heard a clanging sound. "By the gods!" he yelped. More clanging with some banging sounds as well. I didn't move besides grabbing Thalia's hand. "I forgot I dented my favorite pan in one of my…" he tailed off. _One of my… What? One of my what? _I wanted to scream. "I'll be back." Suddenly, his face was right in front of us. My head snapped in attention while Thalia jumped back a bit. "Don't go anywhere," he warned. Then he laughed, "Not like you could get out! Even of you could, you'd have nowhere to go!" He left laughing.

When I was sure he was out of earshot, I mumbled, "You should've been named Ridere, to laugh."

That earned me a snort from Thalia was well as a reassuring hand squeeze.

"Come on," Thalia began standing up. "Let's try and find our way out before he comes back."

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><p><strong>REVIEW<strong>

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	14. Chapter 14

**I'm not even going to bother with trying to give any excuses. Just please accept my apology: This long chapter.**

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><p><em><strong>Jason POV<strong>_

_"Come on," Thalia began standing up. "Let's try and find our way out before he comes back."_

I nodded trying to ignore the pain it caused my head. Getting up turned out to be more difficult than I thought. The second I stood up, my vision began to blur and my knees buckled under me. Before my head could hit the floor again, I felt arms catch me. Or at least, slow my fall. Rather than the hard solid ground, my body leaned against another's.

"Jason? Are you okay? What's wrong?" I could hear the concern and terror in Thalia's voice.

"I… I don't know. My head hurts like Pluto though."

"Pluto," Thalia chuckled a little. "You Romans are so strange." I didn't feel like pointing out that the phrase 'Hurt like Hades' seemed just as strange to me.

"Right here," I pointed to the base of my skull.

I felt Thalia part my hair and I heard her intake of breath.

"Is it bad?" _Please say no, please say no, please say no…_

"Just… Just hold still," she whispered.

I almost nodded before realized that nodding would entitle moving my head. "Okay," I whispered instead.

I felt something against my neck, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Whatever it was doing, it seemed to be pulling my skin. Or rather, trying to take hold of it. Suddenly, searing pain shot down my spine. My back arched in agony; my head felt like it was going to explode. And then, as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.

"Oh, gods. Jason are you-"

"I'm fine," I cut her off. "I feel better now." I moved to stand up, but Thalia placed a firm hand on my arm.

"No," I felt her rise up behind me. "I don't think you shouldn't get up for a while. You rest and I'll try and find a way to escape."

"I can't let you do that by yourself!" I protested still sitting on my butt. "I feel better now and it wouldn't be right if I just sat," Thalia tossed something into my lap, "…here. What's this?" I held up a piece of jagged rock. It seemed to be stained with something. Actually, it was still wet.

"Blood," Thalia said, confirming what I thought. "Yours." I jerked my head up to look at her. This time, it didn't hurt. "That's what was in your neck. You must've fallen on a rock when Ono did…whatever it was that he did to us."

"Ono?"

"'Onocentaurus' is too much of a mouthful. And I don't want to call him 'monster.' So Ono it is." Thalia shrugged.

I couldn't help but give a small smile. Even in a kidnapping that will result in our deaths by being eaten, Thalia sure knew how to lighten the mood. Even if it was only a small amount.

"Okay you win," I put the rock in my pocket, "You try and find an escape, I'll keep watch."

Thalia smiled, "Good." She turned and began examining the bars. I looked around, hoping to see some crack or window that we could use. No such luck. Sadly, I'm not surprised. Nothings ever that easy.

"What made you want to join the Hunt?" I winced; I hadn't meant to ask that. I watched as my sister froze for a second before regaining her composure and answering. Her tone was careful and guarded, as if she didn't want to share a secret.

"A lot of things."

"That's very descriptive," I mumble.

Thalia sighed. "It's just… I don't know how much I can share. First off, practically each reason has a long story behind it and many of it had to do with Greek god-related stuff. I'm not sure if… I don't know what to say."

"You don't trust me." It wasn't a question, but a statement. I found it hurt to have my own sister not trust me. "You don't have to worry. I won't use the reasons you tell me against the Greeks; I'm not Octavian."

"Who?" Thalia only paused to give me a confused look before going back to check the bars of the cell.

"Oh. Uh, he's just someone back at camp. My camp, I mean. There's not many people that believe the Greek gods exist. He's one of the few that does. And he's one of the people who think they- you guys- are out to get us." I felt a sliver of guilt. _Someone back at camp. _I told Thalia she can trust me and here I am talking about Octavian like he's just your Average Joe. But he's not. He's our Camp Augur. Besides the Praetors, he's one of the most important people Camp Jupiter has, even if he is a jerk. I didn't even tell her the name. Camp Jupiter.

"Well no one back at my camp even paused to think that there were other gods besides the Greek ones." I noticed how she didn't say that name of her camp either. I felt a little better, as well as a little worse. _How is that even possible? _

After much silence, Thalia spoke again. This time she was investigating the wall on my left side. "Independence."

"What?" I asked startled by the sudden break in silence.

"Why I wanted to become a Hunter of Artemis. One of the reasons was independence. I wanted to be free and create my own destiny. I didn't want a prophecy on my shoulders."

"Are you talking about what Apollo said to Percy? _You're already supposed to be Olympus' savior._ That's what he said, didn't he?"

Thalia's sudden stillness proved to me that I was right. "Yes," she began slowly, "There is a prophecy about Percy."

"But if it was about Percy, why would it be on your shoulders?" Thalia remained silent. "Oh right. Don't give away too many things about your camp. I got it." I still felt hurt about not being trusted. "What other reasons?"

Thalia seemed glad to have steered away from the prophecy topic. "Well, I didn't really feel as though I fit in at camp."

"Why?"

"As you may have noticed, I look fifteen."

"But that's because of the immortality thing, right?"

"Yes, I will stay like this forever unless I die in battle, but I've only been a hunter for about a year."

"What?" I tried to mentally do some calculations, before giving up; I never liked math. "But you're supposed to be, like, twenty or something!"

"Yeah I am, aren't I?" She gave a mysteriously smile. Then she turned her back and began feeling the wall again.

"Are you going to explain to me what happened?" I demanded.

"It's a bit difficult."

"You're the one who started it!"

"Technically, you did. You asked me the question."

"But you answered it! And then gave me a cliffhanger!"

She laughed and moved on to the wall behind me. I turned to I could face her.

"Well?"

"Trees don't age like humans."

"What? When did trees get involved in this?"

Thalia continued, "When I was dying-"

"You were dying?" I interrupted. I'm sure my face looked had a look of sheer horror, but Thalia never even glanced back at me. In fact, she just kept talking as if I hadn't spoken at all.

"Because I did it to save my friends, dad took pity on me. Right before I died, he turned me into a tree. Then-"

"He turned you into a tree?" I nearly shouted. "You were almost dying? And he turned you into a tree?"

"Jason, do you want to hear the story or not?" She sounded tired. It was as if talking about this event took a lot of energy.

"Sorry. Continue." I pulled my knees into my chest and leaned against them.

"Anyway, when Percy healed me, which is a very long story so please _don't_ ask, about six years later, I found out that during those six year I barely aged. Rather than being fourteen, I was almost sixteen. I never really fit in anymore. Sure, people respected me or, in the case of certain campers, respected me a tiny bit more than they did others. But I never enjoyed attention. Once in a while sure, but who doesn't? You know?" I knew she asked a rhetorical question, but I answered it anyway. _Me. _Sure, being Praetor is great and all; people look up to you and admire you and you're considered the best. But that just puts even more pressure on me. After a pause, Thalia continued, "I could tell Percy didn't like it either, but I knew somehow that this attention I was getting at Camp was supposed to be for him. Don't _ever_ tell him I said that; he doesn't need another reason to act all high and mighty. But I was right. Percy was meant to be at camp, with the occasional Nico while I was meant to be elsewhere. I joined the Hunters the day before I turned sixteen."

I didn't say anything. What could you say to something like that? Rather, I just sat there, watching her. When she finally finished searching the last wall, she sighed and went to sit down next to me.

"Nothing. Not a crack or anything." She stopped only to shake her head. "How are you feeling? Better?"

I nodded. "Much."

"I hope the others find us soon."

"They will. They have to." My words were meant to comfort myself as well as her. "But we need to think of something. Come up with some sort of plan."

"Wasn't that why we were checking the walls and bars?"

"Yes, but… I think I might have a better idea." I lowered my voice and began to whisper the idea that had begun formulating in my mind.

_**Percy POV**_

"What do you mean? How do you know?" I demand.

"We saw it happen," Gwen looked as though she was trying not to cry. "We were just in the bookstore and… He just took them."

"He had a red eye," Bobby murmured.

"A red eye..?" I rubbed my head, trying to clear my though process.

"Maybe we should go inside," Nico suggested. "We can get your story in there."

Everyone murmured and nodded in agreement. We all walked in and sat down at the table where, just a few hours ago, we had eaten a delicious lunch and were laughing.

"So tell us everything," I said. "From the beginning."

And they did. How they walked and talked on the road toward the city; how they went around asking people about anything suspicious. Turns out, that village has had animal thefts too. They described one old woman who seemed to believe that the thing taking the animals was a monster, half man, half beast and how she predicted that he would start taking humans as his next meals. Everyone shuddered at that part. A creature that ate humans? Not only was that disturbing, but it sounded like a line in the prophecy. _And it will prey on those with friends you call brothers. _Then Bobby and Gwen talked about going into the bookstore, to gather any more information before they began to head back. Jason and Thalia stood outside, asking people that walked by as well as being guards. Bobby said he saw a little boy walk up to them, but he didn't think anything strange about it. It wasn't until they turned to walk out the door that they saw the little boy begin to change.

"He started to age," Bobby said. "Not like how you see in movie where they person seems to get weaker. This guy seemed to get stronger. Stronger and taller and buffer and way scarier."

"One of his eyes was red," Gwen recalled. "One blue, one red."

"That's gatta be important," Dakota whispered.

Nico nodded numbly. I mentioned for them to carry on. There wasn't much left for them to say. Jason and Thalia began running, but somehow they ended up right back on the same street, the man laughing the whole time. Bobby and Gwen ran to the door, but it was as if they were running through molasses. Everything seemed to stick on them and slow them down. They reached the door as soon as the man through something at Jason and Thalia. They shouted their names, but it was no use. They had crumpled to the ground. The man picked them up as if they were rag dolls and walked through the crowd.

"By the time we got there, they had disappeared." Gwen choked back tears.

"All we found were these," Bobby held out his hand.

"Is that… teeth?" I asked uncertainly.

Bobby nodded. "They seem to have some kind of drug in them. Maybe poison."

"_And destroy it before it can bite._ That was the line in the prophecy." Nico whispered.

"And if these teeth can knock out Jason and Thalia while they weren't in the creatures mouth…" Dakota trailed off.

"What can they do in him mouth? With all of the other teeth?" I finished.

Xx~oOo~xX

Gwen, Dakota, and Bobby wanted to leave right away. Nico and I were the same way, but we all knew that before we could leave, we needed to be prepared; we had no idea what we were facing.

I grabbed a backpack and put a First Aid kit and flashlight in it. Then I just stared at it, trying to think of what else I could bring. That's when Nico walked in with two water bottles. Of course, he wouldn't carry a backpack. _Wouldn't want him to ruin his jacket or something. _

"Should we get anything else?" Nico asked me.

"It's a pretty small backpack. It barely looks like it can hold anything other than a First Aid kit, two water bottles, and a small flashlight."

"What about the ambrosia and nectar?" Nico reached into his jacket and produced a square of ambrosia and a small container of nectar.

"Keep it in your pocket," I patted the side of my own pocket where my own square of ambrosia was kept. "The closer it is to your body, the safer it would be."

He laughed, "Yeah, knowing us, we'd probably lose it. Speaking of losing things, got your sword?"

I glared at him. "Of course I have my sword! It always returns to me Death Breath."

Nico shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes were still shinning with uncontrollable laughter, "Whatever you say, Seaweed Brain."

I decided that sticking my tongue out was the best solution. That's how we got into a little wrestling match. It wasn't like Nico and Bobby's. I mean, we only broke one table and it was obvious I was winning.

"What are you guys doing?"

I looked up to see Gwen, Bobby, and Dakota standing right above us. Bobby and Dakota stared at the ground, shame in their expressions.

"Oh, nothing really," I grinned.

"Uncle!" Nico said squirming in my grasp. "Percy, I said uncle! Let me go already!"

I laughed and released him from my head lock. "That was much better, you lasted a minute longer than last time," I laughed getting up from my kneeling position.

"One of these days…" Nico threatened, but he laughed as well. "My skeleton training is paying off. Told you it works."

"You guys!" Gwen shouted. "First Bobby and Dakota and now you? Jason and Thalia have been kidnapped. Kidnapped! You need to focus! They could be lost or hurt or…" her voice wavered, "Or dead," she whispered. "What's wrong with you?"

Bobby and Dakota looked even more ashamed.

"Wait," Nico looked confused. "You guys _have _been on a quest before, right? You've done stuff like this before, haven't you?"

Gwen tearfully shook her head.

"Only if you count training," Dakota mumbled.

"I have," Bobby whispered. "But it was really easy. I mean that there was danger and what not, but we weren't like on the run or anything. It wasn't like this. And Jason as the one who mainly did the fighting."

I gave Nico an incredulous look. He returned my expression.

"Have you guys? Been on a quest?" Dakota asked.

I hesitated only slightly. "Yes."

"We actually just came back from one when we saw you at McHale's yesterday," Nico added.

"Really?" Gwen's eyes were wide. "The only one who's been on a quest before was Jason and Bobby."

"Jason's been on quite a few quests," Dakota added. "Some were just because he was a restless kid."

I couldn't help but smile at that. Jason was sounding more and more like me. So in a word, he was awesome.

"Well, danger is part of the quest," Nico began. "Any one of us could die at any moment."

"How do you stand it?" Tears fell out of Gwen's eyes.

"We ignore it," I said. "We don't think about how dangerous it is; we won't dwell on it. Not dwelling on it makes us keep going. Well, that and there's just this awesome feeling that comes with a quest. A sense of adventure."

Nico nodded, "Percy's right. I see have a backpack, we should get going soon. We want to have some sort of clue before it gets dark."

"I say we start with the old lady. She seemed to know more than she was letting on," Bobby said.

"Okay guys, let's go." Everyone followed me as I walked through the door.

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><p><strong>Okay, so I tried to write more, but I couldn't think of anything. I hope this is long enough for you guys to forgive me. I've been fretting about it the whole time my power went out (about half an hour). Please review if you accept my apology. Even if you don't, please review anyway. <strong>

**Review**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks to **coralie14 **who unknowingly helped me write the beginning of this chapter! :D**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

As I walked through the door, I could still hear Gwen sniffling loudly. She was obviously trying to hide it, but she didn't do a good job. I couldn't blame her. When I thought my mom died atop that hill almost four years ago, I was the same emotional wreck.

"It's okay," I head Nico say. "They're not dead."

"Nico," Gwen hiccupped, "P-please don't make p-promises you ca-can't keep."

"Yeah," Bobby murmured, "It won't help."

"It's not a promise; it's a fact." Nico stated.

Gwen stopped dead in her tracks. "Wh-what?" She stammered.

"How do you know?" Dakota asked.

I, too, stopped and turned around. _How can Nico be so sure Thalia's alive? Thalia and Jason are alive?_

Nico's foot prodded the ground. "Well, I'm the son of Hades. And Thalia is a good friend of mine…" he trailed off. I think he was hoping that the three would understand. I know I understood now. (_How could I have been so forgetful? Gah! Stupid brain._) I don't blame him with being a little uncomfortable. If you told someone "I see dead people," they'd most likely believe you compared to "I can sense when and how people die."

When it was obvious they still had no idea what Nico was trying to tell them, I placed my hand on Nico's shoulder and gave him a nod of encouragement. Funny how a small gesture such as that can give someone the courage to continue speaking. "If Thalia and Jason were to be dead, I would feel their life force draining away; I would feel them die. And I didn't. So they're still alive. Somewhere."

Gwen immediately perked up. Her eyes shining, but not with tears. With hope. Bobby stopped sulking, his face now covered in a wide grin.

"Come on, guys!" He shouted. "We're going to slow! Hurry up!" He dashed down the road, Gwen at his heels. Dakota followed, but at a more leisurely pace. I knew he felt better when he whipped out some Kool Aid and began drinking it; I goofy smile spreading across his face.

I stood still watching them for a moment, smiling at their happiness. Of course, when I turned back to face Nico, my smile disappeared.

"You did the right thing," I assured him, putting my arm across his shoulder. "Look how happy they are."

"But what if… What if I was wrong?" Nico stared at the ground, his hands clenched and his shoulders tense.

"We have to believe you weren't."

"But if Jason is dead, it would crush them. And they'd hate me."

"We just have to assume that since Thalia's alive, Jason is too… Thalia _is_ alive, right?"

"Yeah," Nico perked up a little at the reminder his friend was still breathing. "She is."

I nodded, relieved as well. I know Thalia can take care of herself, but in this situation... Anything can happen.

"YOU TWO!"

Nico and I jumped in surprise.

"Hurry up! We're losin' daylight!"

I looked up to see who was shouting. A figure could be made in the far distance.

Nico whistled. "Bobby sure has a loud voice."

"And long legs. Come one!" I ran after the three Romans, Nico running only slightly behind me.

They didn't really wait for us. As soon Bobby shouted back to us, he continued down the path only this time he walked rather than ran. Gwen and Dakota followed. Well, Dakota more like leisurely wondered. _It must be that blasted Kool Aid._ When I return back to Camp Half-Blood, and everyone is safe and sound, I'm making sure Pollux never ever, _ever _has Kool Aid. Ever. It's bad enough Dakota's already addicted, but I don't think I can handle a kid at my own camp with the same drinking problem. Even though I was running full speed ahead, I shuttered at the thought. _Speaking of running… _It's amazing how fast ten minutes can go by when you have the wind in your hair, the sun at your back, a friend at your side, and your mind fully preoccupied with random thoughts. _Sometimes, ADHD can be a blessing. _I smiled, Nico and I had almost caught up. All we need to do was turn this corner-

_(WHAM!)_

"My head…" someone moaned underneath me.

I couldn't see; dust was everywhere. My head felt like it ran into an iron wall. But before I could do anything…

_(WHAM!)_

This time, _I _groaned. In the short one second time span, I had figured I accidentally ran into someone. (Who that someone was, I wasn't sure.) But it didn't take me any time to know what happened next. Someone made the same mistake I did and turned the corner too quickly. Nico probably couldn't see me and must've tripped over my dust covered body. It hurt. The dust got into my lungs and I began coughing. That hurt to.

"What's going -_cough_- on here?"

I couldn't see the person, but it sounded like a girl's voice. Either someone else was on the path or it was Gwen. _Probably Gwen._

"Gwen? -_cough_- What's with the dust? -_cough_-"

_Yep, it was Gwen. _I heard more coughing sounds before anyone answered. From the vibrations, Both Nico and the person under me (I'm guessing Dakota) were coughing as well.

"Isn't it obvious, Bobby?"

"No. -_cough_- Not really."

"Percy, get off me!" Dakota mumbled.

"Nico, get off _me_!" I groaned.

"My head…" Nico moaned, but he managed to lay off me. I peeled myself off of Dakota, literally. The guy was dripping with sweat. I'm not saying I wasn't, but it seemed like Dakota just got out of a pool. Yuck!

"Percy, I think I hit my head on a water bottle," Nico said rubbing the spot right above his right eye.

"At least you had some sort of cushion." Dakota shakily stood up and began brushing the pebbles and dirt off his body.

"Please let it rain," I prayed. I was in desperate need of a shower. It's not that I've never been covered in sweat before, I have; quests don't always provide showers or anything nice like that. But being covered in someone _else's _sweat? It's not only gross, but sickening.

No one asked why I prayed for rain, but they didn't have to. The answer was clear to see… It was on my clothes and body thank you very much!

"How much farther?" Nico asked.

"Not too much longer. About twenty more minutes." Gwen answered.

"Great," I mumbled.

And once again, we began walking. _Please let us find them, _I prayed to my father. _I don't want to be blasted by Zeus. And… Thalia's my friend. Please dad. Please. _

Xx~oOo~xX

_**Jason's POV**_

"So what do you think?"

"I don't know Jason…"

"Don't tell me you think it's too risky."

"It's not that. It's just that it seems too easy."

I gave my sister an incredulous stare. "Seriously? How on earth does that seem too easy?"

Thalia returned the stare. "So jumping out of the cage the minute Ono comes back, hitting him on the head, and then running for our lives doesn't seem easy to you?"

"I said we _try_ to kill him and we jump out of the cage and if at best we only knock him out, we search for clues. _Then _we run for our lives."

"But what if we don't kill him or knock him out? What if we just make him angrier?"

"So you do think it's too risky!"

She groaned. "Jason…"

"What?"

"Oh nothing. Just… Whatever. We'll just have to make it work."

"I'm so glad you have faith in my plan." I scowled playfully and in return, she ruffled my hair. "Hey! Not the hair!"

Thalia stuck her tongue out.

"DINNER!"

Thalia and I jumped at the booming, deep voice.

"Hello."

I turned to see Ono standing in front of the cage holding two bowls. Whatever it was smelled delicious and looked hot. My stomach gurgled reminding me I haven't eaten for a while. _Must be strong, must be strong…_

"What do you want Ono?" I growled.

"Ono?" he cocked his head to the side.

"We decided that your full name is far too long so we shortened it." Thalia answered curtly.

"My full name…?"

Ono looked wholly confused. I looked at Thalia. Her expression showed exactly how I felt. Confused, wary, and apprehensive. _He wasn't this dumb before…_

"You _are_ Onocentaurus, right?" I asked hesitantly.

"Oh no! That's my brother! I'm Connatus. That means twin or double." The man, Connatus, smiled proudly.

There was complete silence. Thalia and I just stared at him unsure of what to say. At least, that's what I think her reason was. That was mine.

Connatus opened the cage door and continued on. "I learned that a little while ago. I mean, I knew it, but I just couldn't remember." He set the bowl in front of us. "It's oatmeal with raisins. My favorite!" Connatus' smile turned into a scowl, "But Onocentaurus doesn't like it. No he doesn't. He doesn't like anything I like." Connatus shook his head, "Meanie. That's what he is. A big meanie."

Thalia found her voice before I did. "Connatus… What exactly is Ono?"

Connatus looked confused, "I just said it. He's a meanie."

"Um, I mean…" Thalia trailed off. It was like talking to a child.

"His name means monster and impure human. Does that help?" Connatus blinked. His eyes were just like Ono's, but something was different. I couldn't tell what though.

"Sorta. Who were-"

"And mine mean twin and double!"

"Yes, yes it does." Thalia smiled and nodded. I could tell the smile was forced and she terrified of this overgrown child, but at the same time, wanted to strangle him. "But who were you're parents?"

Connatus' face fell, "Daddy's dead. Mommy killed him. Too human she said."

I tore my gaze from his eyes and found my voice, "Too human?"

He nodded, "Yes. Mommy doesn't like humans. So she doesn't like me. I'm human, but Onocentaurus isn't. She liked him."

"What exactly is you're mother's name?" Thalia asked.

"Jeto." **(A/N pronounced like 'Gee-toe' and yes, I made it up.)**

"What is she?" I asked.

"She's a si- SHUT UP!"

Once again, Thalia and I jumped. Right in front of us, Connatus began to change. It wasn't like when Ono changed. This change was more subtle. His demeanor became colder and his face hardened up.

"Try to trick my stupid naïve brother, do you? Foul humans. You can't trick me. Once you've been fattened up, I will eat you and you will taste good and no one will stop me from eating everyone." He turned on his heel and walked out of the cage, slamming it behind him.

The only thing that could be heard was the sound his footsteps made echoing off the walls. I stared wide-eyed at the spot where he disappeared to. There was another loud bang and then there was silence.

"You saw that, right?" Thalia finally broke the silence.

"Yeah."

"Good. I'm not crazy."

"…Did you notice the eyes?"

"What do you mean?"

I bit my lip, trying to remember if it was correct. "I think… Connatus' right eye was blue and his left eye was red."

"What's your point?"

"Ono's right eye was red and his left eye was blue."

"I think we've already established they're the same person."

"No, I'm saying they're _not _the same person. Remember their names?"

"Yeah but…" Thalia trailed off only to have realization come onto her face a second later. "They're like two guys trapped in one body."

"If only we knew who their mother was."

"We know it starts with an 'Si-' and it's a female."

"So what can it be?"

"Maybe…" Thalia shook her head, "But that's impossible. She couldn't be one of them."

"One of who?" Not knowing stuff really drives me crazy. Have I mentioned that?

Thalia didn't hear me. "Percy, Nico… Where the Hades are you guys?"

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><p><strong>Yep. I left you on a cliffhanger. I'm so nice aren't I? :3 <strong>

**What do you think their mother is and why? Tell me in the review! I'll explain it in the next chapter. The first person to guess the mother gets a cookie (::) and maybe even a sneak peak… ;) And the one who is closest to the reason gets the same. So please, by all means, REVIEW! **


	16. Chapter 16

**OH MY GODS! YOU GUYS WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT! I GOT A CAR! A CAR! I LOVE MY DAD SOOOOO MUCH! AHHHHHH! I'M SO HAPPY! :D SO, SO, SO VERY HAPPY! (7/7/12)**

**I apologize right now if the voice inside your head is horse or you have a headache. I just had to get that out of my system :)**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

"Are we there _yet_?" Nico whined for the twelfth time.

Gwen, sighing for the seventh time, replied, "No Nico, but we should be almost there."

"But you said that ten minutes ago!" Nico wailed.

"Nico you're giving me a headache," Bobby moaned. "Stop already."

"Both of you stop," I groaned. "You've been at it for ages."

"I think that's Nico's point," Dakota muttered.

"That _is_ exactly my point! You said we'd be there in ten minutes an hour ago! And I'm so tired!" To prove his point, Nico threw himself toward the ground. Unfortunately, I was right in front of him.

"Wha- Nico! Get off!"_ I swear he does this on purpose, _I thought bitterly as I spat out dirt. "Do I look like your pillow?"

"Yes," he mumbled. For a little guy, he sure was heavy. Or maybe I'm just really tired. _Speaking of pillows… The one back at my cabin sounds really nice right now. And a hot shower. And clean sheet. And mmmmm… Food._

Gwen's exasperated voice brought me out of my daydream. _It was a very nice daydream._ "So you guys think it's my fault? It's not _my_ fault! The crazy town people said her house was only ten minutes. They said it, not me!" More dust gathered around me. Because of that and the thumping sound, I figured Gwen had stomped her foot. "I wish we were they already too guys." She said irritably. Glancing up, I saw a figure with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. I tried to get up, but Nico was still on my back. _Nico, get your lazy butt off me!_ I didn't try to move though. The ground, minus the dust in my eyes, was surprisingly comfortable. "You all make it sound like I don't want to find her. Of course I want to find her! Finding her means we'd probably find Jason and Thalia to! We need to find them. It's not my fault those stupid town people tricked us." She stopped abruptly. "…We…we just need to find them," she whispered.

Dakota put a hand on Gwen's shoulder, "Let's just calm down. We have to keep going on no matter what. For Jason. And Thalia."

Bobby cleared his throat, "Dakota's right. We have to find this lady. It's the only lead we've got."

Gwen stared at the hand on her shoulder. Neither Gwen nor Nico moved. I decided to pipe up.

"They're right. So Gwen, don't worry about it; we'll find them. And Nico, stop complaining, you're not helping anyone. Also, GET OFF ME!" I felt a stir, but nothing more. "Is… Is he asleep?"

Bobby unsuccessfully tried to suppress a snicker, "Yep."

"Ugh, Nico..." I let my head drop to the ground.

"Looks like you could use some help." A scratchy, dry voice spoke.

I looked back up, but saw nothing.

"Who said that?" Dakota asked twirling around himself. He looked rather silly.

Just then, the weight was lifted off my back. Relieved that Nico finally woke up and got off my back, I picked my sore body up from the ground and stretched. I turned to face Nico only to stop in the middle of turning. My arms were frozen, stretched above my head.

Nico certainly didn't wake up. Rather, he was still asleep in the arms of some strange lady. It was a strange sight. The lady looked rather old and frail, yet she managed to carry the snoring Nico like he didn't even weigh a feather. Her hair was so grey it looked white and she had so many wrinkles she looked like a prune. Her dress wasn't any better. It was flower patterned with an apron tied around her waist. I assume it used to be white, but all it was now was filthy. The strangest part was she wasn't big. I mean, most grandmas I've seen are a bit round, but she looked like a stick, which makes it look even stranger to see her carrying Nico. _That kid sleeps like the dead… Haha. The dead. Nico. Son of Hades. Argh! Stupid ADHD! Focus Percy. Focus. _

I snapped out of my ADHD trance just in time to hear Bobby stammer out, "Wh-who are you? Where did you come from?"

The lady just chuckled. "Where did I come from? My house of course. It became boring watching you just wonder around. Of course as soon as I decided to come get you decide to get interesting. Here," she held out Nico to me. I unfroze and took my sleeping cousin. "He's getting heavy for this old bag of bones. Come all of you." She turned and began walking down a path that I swear wasn't there before. After a watched her for a moment, I began to follow. I could hear footsteps behind me.

"So what's your name?" Bobby repeated once he caught up.

"You my call me Jetta."

Xx~oOo~xX

Jetta's house was more of like a mud hut. But it was the size of a small house. There were no rooms in Jetta's house; it was all one huge room with different section for different uses. There was a bedroom section, a kitchen section, and a section for… I'm not sure what. The bathroom was an outhouse. How do I know? After walking for about an hour, everyone had to go. And there was only one bathroom. Dakota got first only because his potty dance caused us to laugh which caused our bladders to hurt.

As we sat around the one single table, all was silent. We watched Jetta was she made some porridge-type thing. The only thing we heard was the crackling of the fire and the snores of Nico.

"Here you go dearies." Jetta placed the porridge thing in front of us. At first I thought it was oatmeal. There was only one problem. It certainly didn't smell like it. It smelled like dead, rotten fish.

"Um, I'm not hungry," Gwen gently pushed the foul-smelling dish away from her. I did the same.

"I don't feel so good," Bobby murmured looking green.

Jetta huffed. "How do you all know you won't like it if you don't try it?"

"You sound like my mother," I said to myself.

"Your mother's a smart woman! Here I am, graciously giving you food from my own kitchen and you rudely refuse!" Jetta snapped. For an old woman (who seemed nice before) she was sure persistent about manners. She had already scolded Dakota for lounging on her table.

"Um, Jetta?" Bobby tentatively spoke up. "We're just here to ask you some ques-"

"Not before eating you're not!" She nearly growled.

We all glanced at each other before quickly digging in. It tasted even worse than it smelled, which is saying something. But I forced myself to eat every bite. After I finished, I leaned back in the chair resisted the urge to vomit. The look on everyone else's faces told me they were thinking the same. _My taste buds will never be the same again. _It was strange. I felt absolutely disgusted, and yet energized at the same time.

"What good children! You ate everything Granny gave you. So polite," Jetta cooed. She then gave Bobby, the nearest to her, a big kiss on the cheek. "You all are so sweet."

I looked at her bewildered. _What? _Her attitude had completely changed. She went from nice old lady to mean, snarky old lady to _Granny_? My brain momentarily stopped working. When it started again, I could only think, _She must be bipolar. _

"What?" Dakota asked, echoing my earlier thought.

Jetta (or is it Granny?) simply ignored him. She walked over to the section of her house I couldn't name before. She sat in a big rocking chair next to a fireplace.

"Come over here dearies," she motioned to the couch across from her. Slowly, we got up from the kitchen chairs and walked to the couch. With four people sitting on the small couch, we were extremely squished. As soon as we sat down, Jetta reached into the box on the table in front of her and pulled out some strange objects. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought they were bones. We all watched her as she shook them in her hand and then released them onto the table, as if it was dice.

"So you're here about the creature," Jetta looked up and straight at Bobby as she spoke the last words, "Aren't you?"

Bobby, looking slightly unnerved, slowly nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Her head moved to face a different person in a quick, neck-breaking fashion. "What made you come here?"

I thought about lying, but I had a nagging suspicion she already knew about the Greek and Roman gods. I might as well speak the truth. "A quest," I answered. "We were issued a quest."

Jetta smiled. I had a feeling it was because she knew I told her the truth. Then she faced Gwen, her smile disappearing.

"Where's the others? There should be two more."

All eyes turned to Gwen and she shifted in her seat, her eyes downcast. We all knew this was a sensitive subject for her. But suddenly, and this could be the disgusting porridge talking, Gwen straightened herself up, looked Jetta in the eye, and spoke in such a way that you would've never believed she could ever freak out.

"They were taken by the creature, but we will do everything in our power to get them back and stop it from happening ever again."

Jetta's smile returned, even wider than before, "Good." Then she turned to Dakota, "And what's your plan of action?"

"Uh…" Dakota looked around for help. We never really had a plan after 'Find the crazy lady.' He turned to his right, but Bobby and Gwen only shook their heads and shrugged. He then turned to me. I did the same, though I mouthed the words, 'Wing it.' Unfortunately, he took it the wrong way. Rather than trying to make up some elaborate and amazing plan, Dakota just repeated my words.

"We're just ganna wing it."

I mentally face palmed.

"I see you have no plan. Perhaps that's wise considering you have no idea what you're up against." Jetta rolled the bones one last time before leaning back in her chair. "Fortunately for you, I do know and I will tell you."

We waited, but she never said anything.

"Well?" Bobby demanded.

"All in good time. Now tell me, how do you all feel?"

_What kind of question is that? _

"What kind of question is that?" Bobby exclaimed. _Wow… Should it be good or bad Bobby and I are thinking alike?_

"Just answer the question."

"Well I personally feel great," all eyes turned to me. "I mean, before I got here I was tired and felt kinda weak, but now I feel much better! As if I had slept in a big comfy bed for a day and took a nice hot shower."

"Strange that's kinda how I feel. I feel like I'm top of the world," Dakota said.

"Well that because of my potion," Jetta answered smiling. "I'm so glad it worked."

"Potion?" Dakota echoed in disbelief.

"You're glad it worked?" Bobby echoed in the same disbelieving tone. "You mean it could've what? Killed us?"

"That's preposterous!" Jetta waved her hand as if swatting a fly. "It would've only sapped your strength and force you into a coma."

"What?" We all cried.

Jetta shrugged. "But it didn't, so why bother worrying?"

I could only stare at her in shock. _No wonder the town's people call her The Old Crazy Lady. She was completely bonkers!_

"You're… You're a witch aren't you?" Gwen asked.

"I didn't start out that way, but yes. I suppose now you could call me a witch."

"…So you _aren't_ a witch?" Dakota asked, "Or are you? I'm confused."

_You're not the only one. _I stared at Jetta, trying to make sense of what I'm learning. Does this mean she's good or bad? Id she even human?

"Oh dearie, dearie, dearie, dearie," Jetta shook her head at each word. "Let me see… How to make this easier…"

"We don't have to hear your life story," Gwen interjected. "We just want to know how to defeat the creature."

But it seemed Jetta didn't hear her. Or perhaps she was just ignoring Gwen.

"Well, I was born during the Salem Witch trials. Now I know what you're thinking. How is that possible?" I don't know about the others, but I wasn't thinking that. After knowing there's Greek (and apparently Roman) gods and learning that your father is one of these said gods, you tend to stop getting surprised and just accept most things as truth.

"Well, being born with The Sight back then was dangerous. Long story short, I was caught doing 'witchcraft' even though I was only trying to make an Iris Message, and I was sentenced to burn at the stake. However, Apollo took pity on me since I was saving his son and all. He saved me and offered me a wish. Now I knew that I had to be careful with wished. I wished to become immortal and I wished to become knowledgeable, but not as much as Athena, I didn't want to offend her. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him to take a few years off me. I became immortal, but I can never look anything other than this." Jetta sighed and placed her hand on her other arm.

"At least strength comes with immortality." _So that explains why she was able to carry Nico. _I glanced over at him. He was still sleeping.

"So how is this going to help us defeat the creature…?" Bobby prompted.

"It's not. I just haven't had very many visitors and I like to talk. More porridge?" Jetta stood up and walked over to the kitchen despite all of our protests. "Nonsense. There's at least one more bowl." No one said anything. "You know, this potion helped return all of your strength! Do you know what would happen if someone ate two bowls?"

It was then that Nico seemed to wake up. "Mhmmm…" We all looked over to see a yawning, stretching Nico. "I'm so tired. Why am I," he yawned again, "So tired?"

"It could have been the enchantment. You all were getting boring in my crystal ball so I tried to spice things up. Didn't really work."

"What?" Nico looked so confused. I tried to hold back my laughter. Being a son of Hades, Nico wasn't a morning person. He'd either be angry (which is almost always the case) or he would be acting as if he were high. In this circumstance, it was the latter.

"Hey Nico, are you hungry?" I looked over at Bobby to see a familiar glint in his eye. It was similar to the one Nico gets when he's about to do something mischievous. However, on a scale of one to ten, ten being the scariest, Bobby's was a mere three, while Nico's was normal a thirty. Maybe forty.

"Yeah, why?" Nico yawned again.

I grinned. _Payback time! _ "Nico, this is Jetta," I motioned to the woman standing in the kitchen. "In her hands is some delicious porridge. Care to try?"

"Okay."

"You would? Oh this is wonderful!" Jetta hurried over to Nico and shoved a spoonful of it down in throat. He wasn't awake before, but he certainly was now.

"Percy!" He coughed. "You'll pay for this!"

But I was too busy laughing with Bobby to care. Dakota joined in and, after a few moments, Gwen did as well. That only left a fuming (and coughing) Nico as well as a confused Jetta.

"Wait, what's so funny?"

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><p><strong>Heyy guys. I finished this story and it's late so I'm not ganna bother going back and trying to find the mistakes or anything. Sorry if that bugs you, but I'm just so tired. Goodnight.<strong>

**Oh, and review please. Thanks. **


	17. Chapter 17

**You will never believe it! I haven't been writing because I was accepted to be an actress in a TV series!**

…

…

**Yeah okay so the above is a lie… I just thought that sounded better than I was lazy in the beginning of summer and then super busy at the end. See? That sounds so lame. I'm really sorry guys. Truth is I wasn't quite sure where to go from where I left off. Not exactly writer's block. I thought of stuff, but it just wasn't good stuff… I still haven't really thought of anything that really shouts "AMAZING!" but I figured you all waited long enough. So I'm just ganna type and see where it leads me… Again, I'm really sorry. **

**Okay, random moment: I reread my story from the beginning (to get inspiration) and at chapter 2, when Jason said, "She said yes," meaning whether Reyna would allow them to leave or not, I just realized how much that sounded like she said yes to Jason's proposal. LOL I can't believe I didn't notice that sooner XD**

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><p><em><strong>Jason POV<strong>_

We sat in silence, waiting for Ono to come back. I was personally waiting for Connatus. He might be a bit dimwitted, but at least he didn't want to kill us. I glanced at the bowl of oatmeal next to my feet. My stomach growled.

"Do you think it's safe to eat it?" I asked Thalia hopefully.

"I don't know…" She too was staring at her own bowl.

"I'm really hungry," I started.

"Me to," Thalia's own stomach rumbled as if to prove she spoke the truth.

"And I think it should be safe to eat. It wasn't Ono who brought it to us."

Thalia nodded again. "It was Connatus…"

I looked away from my bowl and glanced at my sister. She did the same. We looked at each other for a few seconds before digging into the meal. It was gone in a matter of seconds.

"I normally hate oatmeal, but that was delicious," Thalia patted her belly.

"Agreed."

We sat in silence for a while more. There was no noise and I began to wonder where Ono went. Wasn't he going to eat us or something? Not that I want to be eaten, but all this sitting around is getting boring. I need some action. I need to fight something. Preferably Ono. At least if I lose, I would've gone down fighting. It's an honorable death. Though I'm not sure if being eaten by a cannibal monster is honorable… I'll have to check up on that when I get back to Camp Jupiter. _If_ I get back to Camp Jupiter that is. I shook my head. _No. I will get back. I will. _

"I will," I whispered.

"You will what?"

I looked up. "Oh, just having a debate within myself," I replied.

Thalia smiled, "What a coincidence. Me to."

"Really?" I smirked. "That's strange. It's almost as if we were related." I grinned when Thalia laughed. _At least we can still be ourselves even though we're kidnapped. I guess it's a demigod thing. _"What were you thinking about?"

My sister's eyes grew sad. "About this."

"This? You mean… The kidnapping?"

She sighed and brought her knees to her chest, proving my point.

"We will get out," I told her. "We will."

"I know," she said, but she didn't sound very convinced. "It's just that…" She trailed off.

"You have a hunch on what's going on, but you're keeping it to yourself," I accused. "Tell me."

"I'm probably wrong." Thalia traced her finger along the rim of her bowl. She put her finger in her mouth and licked the left over oatmeal off.

"But at least it's something. It's better to go into battle having some idea. Even if it's wrong, we'll at least have a plan. And that's better than nothing."

"Battle? What makes you think we can fight this thing?"

I glared. "Well for one, I _don't _have a hunch on what it is. Even if I did, I'm still ganna be optimistic."

"Optimistic?" Thalia shook her head. "Maybe we aren't related."

I nudged her, "I bet you're not pessimistic all the time."

She stuck her tongue out at me. "No, but at least if you're a pessimist, you're not all bright and cheery all the time. Like Percy. He gets on my nerves."

"Same could be said for pessimists, but you know, dark and gloomy rather that bright and cheery."

I smiled as I caused Thalia to laugh again.

"Okay, sure. Whatever you say." But Thalia didn't sound angry.

We sat in silence again. I glanced hopefully at my bowl as if more food magically appeared. It didn't. As the silence grew and grew, I started to feel uneasy. This silence was just too creepy. I felt like I was in a horror movie and I was just waiting for the killer clown to jump out and slit my throat. _Okay Jason, way to give yourself that beautiful mental image… _Deciding the only way to cure the eerie silence was speaking, I turned to Thalia.

"So what do you think it is?"

Thalia looked at me as if I read her mind. "It's stupid," she sighed.

"It's a start," I insisted.

"Okay, it's just that… Well Connatus said that his mother killed his father because he was too human, but maybe that wasn't exactly it. Maybe he was killed because he was all human. A pure mortal without the gift of sight, suddenly knowing there are Greek monsters-"

"And Roman," I interjected.

"Yeah. Greek and Roman monsters. If a mortal were to know that, they'd go insane. Becoming paranoid and frantic. Probably would kill off everyone they thought was a monster in disguise."

"What are you trying to say? The she-monster did the man a favor by killing him?"

"No. Well, maybe. But it's what she did to him that worries me."

"What do you mean?"

Even in the dark, I could see Thalia blush. "Connatus said father. Meaning… Well, the creature… You know…"

Realizing what she was trying to say, I almost laughed. I already knew about sex. And I figured it out already when Connacus mention 'father' and 'human.' The only thing that stopped me from laughing was how nervous and uneasy Thalia was acting. "I understand. Go on," I said simply.

After shooting me a grateful look, Thalia continued. "Well I can't think of a reason that a monster would want anything from a mortal besides maybe eating them. Especially if it's what I think it is."

"And that would be..?"

"A siren."

"What?"

"Well," Thalia began slowly, "A siren lures people by a beautifully deceptive voice. So what if a child of a siren and a human could lure people by a deceptive description? That would explain why he could be a young, innocent-looking boy as well as his true self."

"Okay, but what about the whole part that there seems to be two people in one body?"

"I doubt there's been anything like him before. Why on earth would a monster want to breed with a mortal human? Whatever the reason, there's bound to be consequences. Remember what Connatus said? He was fully human, but he also said his brother wasn't. What if that wasn't it exactly, but Connatus was the human part of the body while Ono was all monster?"

"Okay…" I thought for a bit. "It sorta makes sense, but I think it's more like the body is half human, half monster and the personality is split into two people. The human-thinking part is Connatus while the monster thinking part is Ono."

"Well whatever it is, why would he be created? Like I said before, I have no idea why a monster would want to breed with a human, especially if that monster was a siren. They like to _eat _the flesh of mortals."

I didn't have an answer, but someone answered it before I could even open my mouth. The owner must be a woman for no man could ever have such a soothing voice. If a voice could become solid, this one would be the silkiest silk in the world. It seemed to wrap around me and lift me up. However, as I continued gripping Thalia's arm (she did the same to me) I was able to concentrate on not concentrating on the voice.

"Who can defy Kronos?"

I jumped and scooted closer to Thalia, who did the same.

"Kronos?" Thalia's voice wavered only slightly. "What does he want? Who are you? Show yourself!"

"So many questions," the voice whispered. Shadows began to move and out of them came a terrifying sight; it didn't match the voice at all. While the voice sounded like an angle, the thing in front of must surely be a demon. An ugly, old, wrinkly demon that hasn't had a bath in decades. I swear one of her rotting teeth actually fell out as she talked.

"What are you?" I wondered aloud.

The creature glared at me with her beady eyes. They reminded me of vulture eyes. And I should know. I once got extremely close to some giant vultures during a quest I once had, but that's a long story and not really relevant at the moment.

"Can't recognize me, can you?" Even though she was seething, her voice was still angelic. It was quite frightening considering her appearance. "My beautiful self is gone. I am no longer a siren," her voice was full of longing. If I wasn't looking at her unpleasant (trust me, that's being kind) face, I'm sure I would've tried to comfort her. "_That_ is because of Kronos." She spat the name out.

"What does he want with you?" Thalia demanded.

The ex-siren leaned in closer. For the first time, I was glad there were bars keeping us in. At least, they kept _her _out. "Will want, dear. We are plan B."

"Plan B?" I asked. "So what's plan A?"

The woman only sneered. "Why don't you ask your lovely sister? She knows all about Plan A."

Thalia sucked in her breath. "The prophecy."

"Yes," the woman reached her hand out, but she couldn't reach us (thank the gods). "I may not be a siren anymore, but I can still feel your desires." She fixed her eyes on Thalia. "Just so you know it wasn't Kronos who thought of having a backup plan. No, he's too prideful for that. But someone managed to convince him. I can see him in your desires. The men share the same face."

"No." I was the first time I heard fear and desperation on Thalia's voice. Her grip on my arm tightened. I used my right arm to hold her in an awkward embrace.

"Yes, for Luke has always been smart. He knew that you, or even Percy, has a chance of defeating him. So he came up with a plan B. One that you wouldn't know of. Of course when Dionysus cured that boy, what was his name? Krill? Chip? Something like that."

"Chris?" Thalia questioned quietly. I had no idea who or what they were talking about, but I figured that interrupting at this moment would _not _be the right idea.

"Yes, that's his name. Well, he was one of the people who knew of the plan. Actually, the only reason he did know of it was because they planned for him to be the one to explore the labyrinth first. So when Dionysus cured the boy, he told the gods. They immediately erased his memory and began the process of exterminating the plan B."

Thalia was silent. I decided it was my turn to speak up. "Why are you telling us this?"

"Because Kronos took away what I loved. Being a siren was me. Now, I'm nothing. He told us that whoever accepted his offer would never worry about starvation. A new mortal would be provided every night. He lied. Now, I am no longer siren, but I am not human. I wish for death yet I can't have it. I have strange feelings that I am not meant to have. The last mortal meal I had was my blasted son's father. That's another thing. I have a son. A siren is not meant to have a son. Not meant to love a half human child and yet I do. It's unnatural. I said before that I can still understand mortal's desires. Well, my own desire is for the death of my blasted son and the end of my accursed life."

I stared at her. How was I supposed to answer something like that? A noise at the far end of the cave caused me to jump.

The ex-siren looked toward the darkness and then back at us. Her beady eyes looked upon Thalia, "Just remember darling, it was all Luke's plan." Before she disappeared back into the shadows, she grinned. It was a grin only a creature of evil could give.

She was barely gone a second before Connatus/Ono showed up.

"It's my lucky day," the coldness of the voice told me it belonged to Ono. "Do you want to know why?"

"No," I said harshly.

Ono narrowed his eyes. "Don't talk to me that way! I'm going to tell you anyway." He smiled as if he told me I was going to be tortured. "Some kids have been asking about you two." My heart nearly stopped. It wasn't that I didn't believe that they were looking for us, but hearing it is always reassuring. _We're going to be found. We're going to be rescued. _I thought happily. But then my heart stopped again at Ono's next words. "Rather than dinner, I think I will have a huge demigod feast!"

He walked away laughing. I stared after him, but shaking caused me to look down. I realized I was still holding Thalia and _she _was the cause of the shaking.

"Thalia? Are you okay?"

My sister only stared straight ahead. She gave no sign that she heard me or even Ono.

"Not Luke," she whispered. "He wouldn't do it; not Luke."

It stopped my heart cold when I realized Thalia was crying. She didn't cry in the airplane when we found each other again. Just like her brother, she hated crying. I made a promise to myself.

I will find this Luke guy. I don't know who is and I don't know what he's done, but he made my sister cry. I will find him and I will kill him. No one does that to my sister. No one.

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><p><strong>So how was that? As I began writing, the words just flowed out of my fingers. I suppose it isn't such a bad idea… Do you forgive me? I really am sorry! This story was 2,252 words; is that okay for you all as an apology?<strong>

**Please Review**

**:( **


	18. Chapter 18

**Fair warning: This gets a bit graphic, so be prepared. Also, school is really hectic, especially as a junior. Be ready for weird update times and times where it might seem as though I've died because I'm nowhere to be seen on FF. That is simply the busyness of school and dance slowly draining my life force. No worries. I'll be fine…maybe…**

**On a happier note, I read **_**The Demigod Diaries**_** and let me tell you, IT WAS AMAZING! Everyone needs to go get it NOW and read it right NOW! (Well, maybe after you read this story lol) :D **

**Disclaimer: Me? Own? Don't make me laugh. Hahaha! (Oh, look. You made me laugh.)**

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><p><em><strong>Jason POV<strong>_

Thalia was still shaking in my arms when Ono walked back. His grin was full of pointed teeth; similar to a shark. I take that back, similar to one of those prehistoric sharks whose mouth could give the Great White a run for its money.

"What do you want now?" I asked wearily. I was too tired to be doing this right now.

Ono grinned and his eyes lit up in the creepiest way. At first he just stared in dead silence. I'm not sure which I preferred. Him staring at us or his next question: "Want to see my dinner?"

I think I'd rather choose neither option and pick C instead: At home, in my bed, and sleeping in peace and comfort after a long hot bath. (Yes, bath. I'm too tired to be standing up.)

"Aren't we your supposed dinner?"

I was shocked to hear Thalia's voice. She pushed herself out of my arms and stared coldly into Ono's eyes. There was a new sensation of hatred in her eyes as she glared at our kidnapper.

Ono smiled. "Well you were. However, now you're part of the feast. So to tide me over, I will eat this."

I gasped as he brought his "dinner" into the light. Actually, brought is too nice of word. Ono had literally chained up his dinner and he showed us what it was by yanking the chain and dragging the man kicking and screaming across the floor. He wasn't a young man; at least eighty, but that didn't stop him from trying to escape. I didn't blame him. However Ono managed to capture him I doubt it was pleasant.

"That's dinner?" Thalia gaped.

The man began screaming words in Italian. My own Italian is a bit rusty, but I'm pretty sure the words included: "Help!" "Monster!" As well as, "You dumb mother-" and that's where my Italian skills desert me.

"You don't expect me to just stop eating do you?" Ono yanked the chain a bit more, causing the man to yelp.

I stood up, "You can't eat that man! Connatus! Don't let your brother do this!"

"Shut your mouth, boy!" Ono's eyes went from evil amusement to straight down evil. He certainly got his mother's eyes. "I am in control; not my useless brother. I will do what I want and no one can stop me. You, your sister, my brother, not even the gods! I am unstoppable!" Ono roared.

I didn't notice when Thalia stood up, but she was now standing ahead of me, her posture rigid. "All monsters think that. And they all fail. We will defeat you, you arrogant bas-"

Ono cut her off. "Only demigods have a fatal flaw. I am not a demigod, I am stronger than you. I am stronger than any mortal weapon. And when I feast on you demigods and take your strength for my own, take your _powers _for my own, I will be stronger than the gods themselves!" Ono's voice got progressively louder. I'm surprised the cave didn't collapse. Surprised, and glad. "Mortals will fear me! They will worship me! No one, not even Kronos will defeat me. My strength would be his tenfold!" Ono then grabbed the man, who was shaking in fright; Ono's eyes were _glowing_. "This man is weak. Like all mortals. Like all _demigods_. I can easily crush you!" Ono squeezed the man's arm. A loud crack echoed off the cave walls. The man's screams chilled me to the bone. Ono continued. "He represents all who aren't me. You puny worthless things are useless and fragile," to prove his point, Ono bent the man's wrist all the way back. Another cracking sound echoed off the walls.

"Stop!" Thalia cried.

"Why should I listen to you?" Ono sneered. "All you weaklings are good for is fun and food." The man moaned in agony. His eyes were growing glassy, but he looked straight at me. His look sent shivers down my spine. It will be a look I will never forget. Beyond the look of pain and terror, there was almost a sense of calm. It sounds weird, but I swear that's what it was. He looked at me and he seemed to relax in the slightest way. If I wasn't looking into his eyes, there was no way I would have known it. The look he gave me was haunting. If the look had words, it would say something along the lines of: _I know you will defeat this creature. If my death is what provokes the instinct in you to kill him, so be it. _

I wanted to tear my eyes away, but I couldn't. The man closed his eyes only to open them again. He breathed in a shaggy, quick breath. I watched in horror as Ono lifted the man to his mouth and bit down onto his neck. His sharp teeth punctured the man's skin. He jerked once, before visibly relaxing. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought he was sleeping; his face looked so calm. Only his oddly formed arm stood out of place. That is, until he began screaming. His eyes snapped open and blood dripped down his face like tears. He began withering in pain and shouting more Italian words until he choked on his own blood.

It wasn't until I hit the wall that I realized I had been backing up. So had Thalia.

Ono wasn't done though. He then raised the man above his head and tore him- literally tore- him apart. One second there was just one man, the next, bones, blood and organs were spilt out of the man. Most of it landed on Ono himself, some sprayed the walls and floor (Thalia and I weren't lucky enough to be spared), but some landed in Ono's wide open mouth.

"I am Onocentaurus!" He shouted. "No one tells me what to do and no one can stop me!" He stared at us for an agonizingly long while. We didn't dare move. I don't think I even breathed. Then, Ono grinned, his teeth dyed with blood, and walked away. He held half of the man in one hand and half in another. To make matters worse, he walked away whistling. I will never be able to listen to Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" the same way ever again.

The minute Ono was out of sight, I collapsed on the floor. Thalia slid down beside me.

"Now we really have to stop him," I whispered hoarsely. "No wonder the gods sent us." I was vaguely aware of my entire body shaking.

"I've seen some crazy stuff before," Thalia breathed. "Acid drapes; seven-year olds with hammers; many, many monsters. Heck, I've faced death before millions of times. But that?" She took in a shaky breath. "We didn't even know his name…"

Xx~oOo~xX

_**Percy's POV**_

After Jetta forced spoon-fed Nico, we all got down to business. Gathered around her kitchen table (this time, _no_ potion porridge in front of us) everyone listened intently to Jetta.

"Its name is Onocentaurus," Jetta explained. "At least that's what he calls himself. I searched for him everywhere in mythology, but I can't find any trace of him. I believe that he's a new kind of creature. One only created not long ago."

"New?" Nico echoed. "How can there be a new monster? That can't be possible."

Jetta shrugged. "I don't know how he came to be and frankly, I don't care. All I know is that he is not in any stories from old. Neither Greek nor Roman."

"Could you have simply missed the story?" Bobby asked meekly.

Immediately, Jetta's eyes hardened as she stared at Bobby. "I may be old, but I'm not senile. I checked Greek mythology twenty times and Roman mythology twenty-one times. Onocentaurus is simply not there. Now, are you all going to continue pondering about this one tiny aspect or will you allow me to finish telling you what I know?" We stayed silent. "Good. Now where was I...? Oh yes.

"I believe him to have a twin. There have been rumors that there was a creature in practically the same size, shape, and appearance as Onocentaurus however, his demeanor completely different. I don't know his brother's name, but to infiltrate his lair, I suggest avoiding both of them. I'm not sure how submissive the twin is to Onocentaurus, but I doubt you want to find out.

"I'm not entirely sure, but his lair is in the mountains. Somewhere. That's the only place where I cannot see. My crystal ball only goes so far to the very outskirts of these woods." At first I thought she was joking, that is until he pulled out a crystal ball. She waved her hands over it and a few hocus-pocus words later, we were looking at the forest.

"Whoa," Dakota whispered.

"You see? Nothing after this. I've scoured the forest thousands of times, but I cannot find him. Once, I managed to catch sight of him right before he vanished. So I concluded he must live in the mountains."

"Why did you not try to stop him before?" Gwen asked. "Surly, you have the power."

Jetta waved her hand dismissively. "Even if I did have the power, it's not my job. It's yours."

"Well thanks for saving this for us," I said sarcastically.

Jetta smiled, "You're welcome."

I decided not to point out that I was using sarcasm. I'm not even sure if she knew what sarcasm was.

"Um, right. Well, I think we should get going. If we can reach the edge of the forest before nightfall, we can have an early start at finding those caves in the morning." I stood up and I could see the others doing the same. "Thank you. For everything."

"Wait!"

We were halfway to the door when Jetta called out. I turned around and almost leapt back in surprise. Her eyes were glowing green. Not like the mummy Oracle's eyes back at Camp Half-Blood, but a distinctly faint green glow was definitely emitting out of her eyes. It stayed for about three seconds before her eyes returned to normal.

"I'm not sure how or why, but I know that this is somehow involved with Kronos."

I took a step back. "K-Kronos? What? No."

Jetta looked sad. "Yes, I'm sorry to say that it does. You must destroy this creature or else it will backup Kronos during the Final Battle. You must beware of its teeth. They're its source of strength. If you can find a way to destroy its teeth, you have a chance."

"When you say 'a chance,' you make it sound as if we can't destroy it with our weapons," Nico glared accusingly.

"You never know. This creature is new. Anything could happen. Be careful."

Then, Jetta snapped her fingers and she disappeared. In fact, the whole house disappeared. I suppose the plus side is that she (I'm guessing it was Jetta) transported us to the edge of the woods. If it weren't for the full moon's light shining though branches of the trees, it would've been pitch black. It wasn't until right now that I felt sleepy. The whole time at Jetta's house, I was wide awake, but now… I looked around and could tell the others were having the same problem I was. We walked for a few minutes, trying to find a safe, decent place to sleep.

"Hey look! Kool-Aid!" Dakota exclaimed happily.

"Hey look! Beds!" Gwen pointed to four cots continently placed under a net. Needless to say, I was more ecstatic about the beds than the Kool-Aid.

"Hang on, there's only four…" Bobby counted the beds again and then counted heads. "How's this going to work?"

I grinned sleepily. "Nico takes first watch. I'll take the second. You three can fight amongst yourselves who gets third, fourth, and fifth."

"Wait, why do _I _get first watch?" Nico folded his arms and looked scary, but I was too tired to care.

"Because you already slept a bit. I'm going to bed. Night." I walked into the tent and collapsed onto one of the cots. Four pairs of footsteps walked into the tent.

"I'm taking third watch," Gwen's voice said. She yawned. "Night."

I mumbled something incoherent. _I'm_ not even sure what I said.

"Hey Perce," Nico's voice whispered quietly into my ear. "While you're sleeping, don't forget my offer. Being invincible will be a great benefit when it comes to Kronos."

I sighed and risked opening my eyes. Looking into Nico's eyes, I knew he was right. But that didn't mean I wanted to do it. Bathe in the River Styx? That's doesn't really sound appealing. "Not right now," I murmured, closing my eyes. "Let's focus on this mission before we think about another one."

As I drifted to sleep, I could've sworn I heard something that sounded like a man screaming. I almost got up when the noise shifted to an owl hooting. _It must've been my imagination, _I managed to think before drifting off into the familiar darkness of sleep.

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><p><strong>What do you guys think? Good? Bad? So-so? Review! Thanks :) <strong>


	19. Chapter 19

**Came to me in the shower… Again… A lot of these chapter came to me in the shower… I should take showers more often when I need ideas lol. Here it is!**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

What woke me up you ask? Well, no. I didn't wake up to the soft cot that Jetta provided us. I didn't wake up in my cabin. I didn't wake up to the birds signing or even monsters attacking.

Nope, I woke up by falling onto the ground; my face only breaking my fall.

What happened you ask? Well apparently, once the sun rises, the beds disappear. It gives a new definition the phrase, "Rude awakening."

"I'm ganna kill her," I heard Nico mutter.

"Before or after Percy?" Bobby questioned lightheartedly.

I groaned. "Shut up guys."

"I guess that means it's time to go…" Gwen's worried voice caused me to lift my head. She was rubbing her head, but then again, who wasn't?

"Where do we start?" Bobby's lighthearted voice was gone. Now, it was serious and shaky.

Everyone looked to me. They always look to me. I glanced around the wooded area.

"Anyone else hear a scream last night?" Dakota yawned. He was the only one not rubbing his head. I guess he took the last watch. "It might've been the Kool-Aid and sleep deprivation, but I'm sure I heard a man scream."

I frowned as the memory returned to me. "No, I think I heard it to…"

Turns out, everyone heard it. We all decided that it came from the mountain to our left.

"So I guess we… Climb it?" Gwen looked up at the enormous mountain that stood before us.

"Well, I don't see any elevator," Nico muttered dryly. Bobby snickered. _Sense when did those two get along? _

"I wonder how many caves are in that thing," I wondered aloud. "It's huge."

"We're going to have to check every single cave, aren't we?" Nico glared at the mountain, as if that would magically make the right cave light up… Or something.

"What else can we do?" I shrugged.

Dakota was the first to climb. "Come on guys, we don't know what shape Jason and Thalia are in. And we should probably start before it gets too hot."

I looked at the mountain again. The fresh, cool morning air was the right temperature to begin a paralyzing climb that would probably lead us to a cannibal giant who could be chomping down on the bones of our friends as we speak.

As I began climbing, I couldn't help but grin. It's just another ordinary day in the life of a demigod.

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><p><strong>I know this is short, but I can't think of anything else at the moment. School has me drained of all my thoughts. Speaking of school, I have homework to complete. Until next time my friends. Until next time…<strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**You guys have no idea how horrible I feel. But the honest-to-goodness truth is that I've had major writer's block. I mean it. MAJOR. And want to know why? School. Seriously. When people tell you junior year is the hardest, they weren't kidding. I feel so drained… I'm really trying to finish this, but my mind hurts already. And this weekend (the 22****nd**** and 23****rd****) are my busiest so far. I'll try to write this up, but I can almost guarantee a horrible chapter. Please forgive me. **

**Disclaimer: I am not a man. Trust me :p**

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><p><em><strong>Jason POV <strong>_

I never went to sleep. How could I? The man was burned into my eyes. It was permanently stamped on my memory. Somehow, Thalia managed to fall into a light sleep, but it was obvious she had nightmares. She kept twisting in my arms, her eyes racing back and forth beneath her eyelids, and her mouth murmuring the name "Luke." The Luke guy better hope he never meets me. Whatever he did to Thalia, I'm ganna kill him.

When Thalia awoke, she never spoke of her dream. I never asked. I could still see the blood-stained floor. I vaguely wondered where the woman was. I really didn't want another visit from her. I didn't want another visit from Ono either. Especially Ono. I don't even think I can look at Connatus in the eyes again. Suddenly, I heard a scuffle and some whispers.

Thalia turned to me. "Did you…"

I nodded my head. Suddenly, I saw the best sight ever. Five wonderfully amazing heads. I could've kissed each and every one of them… Eh... Maybe not. But I was still ecstatic to see them.

"Thalia!" A grin spread across Percy's face.

"Jason!" Gwen began to run toward the cage.

"Wait!" I hissed. "Be careful."

They nodded, walking slowly. Getting closer to the cage, I noticed Dakota's eyes glance down at the floor.

"Something tells me that's not Kool-Aid," he whispered.

"Just get us out of here! Quickly!" Thalia breathed, looking around wildly. I was doing the same.

"Ono might come back," I added.

"Ono?" Bobby asked.

Before I could answer, Percy interrupted.

"How are you supposed to open this thing?" He tried to rattled the bars, but nothing seemed to be working.

"You know, if you had super human strength-"

"Not the time, Nico!" Percy snapped. I raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. There was more pressing matters.

"This is taking too long," Gwen murmured anxiously.

"Leave it to me." Suddenly, Nico disappeared. He was right in front of me and then he was eaten by shadows. I suddenly had a mental image. Maybe 'eaten' was the wrong word.

"Wha-?" I began, but then there was Nico, standing between Thalia and I. He grabbed our wrists and then the most horrible sensation came over me.

It was as if someone was slowly turning off all the lights, only it was my vision that was fading. I suddenly felt very cold and I began to disappear. Disappearing… That felt weird. Imagine having a rope attached to the middle of your back. Then someone begins pulling the string. You begin to fold into yourself, being dragged by this imaginary string. You're surrounded by a black coldness. No, not 'black.' That would entitle something's there. It's more like nothing. There's nothing surrounding you. The only way I can describe it, is as 'blackness.' It only lasts a few seconds and then, quick as lightning (and I should know), your vision returns and your standing full straight again. Well you are until you nearly crumble over because your legs gave out and your sense of balance is completely gone and your head is pounding like a sledge hammer... I think you get it. I fell head first into Percy; I felt him grab onto me and help lift me up. I tried to stand on my own, but I almost fell again. It felt as though I was spinning. Squeezing my eyes shut, I did the only thing that felt right- I laid my head on Percy's shoulder. The room stopped spinning, but my head didn't stop throbbing. _Great. Just great… _

"Ugh," I moaned. "What was that?"

Even though I wasn't facing him, I could practically see the smirk on Nico's face. "Shadow-traveling. It's a son of Hades thing."

I only moaned in response.

"Nico," Thalia's voice sounded strained. "When I told you never to do that again, I meant it."

"Would you rather I left you in the cage?" Nico feigned innocence.

My sister glared at her 'cousin,' "You jacka-"

"Guys…" Bobby whispered. I looked up from Percy's shoulder. The first thing I noticed was that Thalia was doing the same thing, only on Gwen's shoulder. Then that's when I saw what Bobby was pointing at. My blood ran cold. I pushed away from Percy and took a few tentative steps forward.

Cautiously, I asked, "Connatus? Please tell me that's you."

With the wave of his hand, the creature opened the cage door and threw us in. I mean literally threw. My feet left the floor and I went crashing into the wall. I knew who he was.

"What have I told you about my idiot brother?" Ono's voice was dripping with hate. "Don't mention him to me." He stared us down. Then smiled, his teeth still red. "At least I can have my demigod feast now." I shut the cage of the door and walked began walking away. Suddenly, he stopped and turned around. This time, the anger on his face was eradicated, replaced with a smooth, sad kindness. His eyes were opposite colors.

"I'm sorry about him," he murmured. Then, calmly, Connatus' face changed once again into Ono's, but Ono did yell at his brother. He turned and walked off as if nothing happened.

"Did you guys see that…?" Dakota whispered once Ono was out of sight.

I looked at Thalia. She was already staring at me. We smiled.

"Um, why are you guys smiling?" Bobby asked bewildered.

"Connatus is stronger than we thought," Thalia grinned.

"Who?" Bobby asked again.

We ignored him. "That's very useful," I agreed. "And now that we have Nico, we can get out of here."

"We can?" Nico looked as confused as Bobby.

Thalia nodded, somewhat grudgingly. "Even though I absolutely despise shadow-traveling, it seems to be the only way getting out of here."

Nico's face light up in understanding.

"Do you all have your weapons?" I asked.

Percy nodded. "I do. Do you guys?"

Thalia sadly shook her head. "No, he took them away. But we can get then back one we get out of here. Then we can fight him. And kill him." Her eyes portrayed the emotion I felt. Not only for the future, but for the old man. There was no way I was going to let him die in vain. Either the others didn't notice the cold, hard emotion we felt, or they choose to ignore it.

"When do we act?" Percy asked, looking at me. I felt strangely honored. He was older than me, he's obviously been on more quests than I had, and it seemed to me that he had the leader quality. Yet here he was, sitting in a cave, waiting to be eaten, and he was looking at _me_.

I smiled. "Well, we should have a plan. A good one. One that'll never fail."

"What did you have in mind?"

My smiled widened at Percy. "Well…"

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><p><strong>Yeah. This is horrible. I already know, but I had to give you guys <strong>_**something **_**right? You've all been so patient. Seriously, thank you all so much. Every review, favorite, and alert is so amazing. Especially the reviews. So please review. **

**Tell me what you think of this [horrible] chapter. I really am sorry about its quality. It really does suck, but that was all I could think of. My head hurts to… :( **


	21. Chapter 21

**Heyy guys… I'm ganna do what I've done many times before. Yes, I'm going to start writing and hope for the best. Honestly, I'm not feeling this story anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to just quite this or do anything halfheartedly. I'm going to do my best. Unfortunately, 'my best' might not be any good. Sorry about that…**

**On a happier note, there's this amazing story you should read. It's called **_**Hans and Greta **_**and it's by ****Lion in the Land****. It's similar to Hansel and Gretel, but there's a huge twist. Seriously. A HUGE twist. On an even happier note, I bought **_**Mark of Athena**_**! Haven't read it yet, I need to read the first ones again. Just a system I have.**

**And without further ado, I present… Chapter 21:**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

I had to admit, it was a pretty good plan. Expect the part where Jason answered, "We just wing it," to "How are we supposed to kill him." It's not that I had anything better, but I haven't been stuck here with him for the past day. That, and aren't Romans supposed to be notorious for being really precise and complicated and stuff? Well… Now that I think about it, the plan was a heck of a lot better than I would've come up with.

It was simple really. Thalia, Nico, and I were to distract Ono (_wow that really_ is _a lot easier to say that Onocentaurus_) from the front while the four Romans sneaked up behind him and killed him… Somehow. The life of a demigod sure is fun… (Please note my sarcasm.)

"So did you guys find out any information on this guy?" Bobby asked.

I noticed the strange expression that flickered across Thalia's face. Pain, anger, resentment, defiance, and… I wasn't sure, but I swore I saw… Love. It was crazy. I mean, _Thalia_ and _love_ just don't seem to go together. Oh gods! I don't mean she can't show love because she obviously loves Annabeth in a sisterly way. I was talking about love as in love-love. Boy-girl love. In the back of my head, I thought of Annabeth, but I shook the thought out of my head; I didn't need any distractions. And she is one big distraction. With her blonde curls and big, intense grey eyes and warming smile and cute nose and-

"Actually, we did," Jason said, interrupting my thoughts. I cursed my ADHD in my head, but I had a small feeling it had more to do with _hormones _than ADHD. Just don't tell my mom that. "But it didn't really make sense."

Nico snorted, "_That _sentence didn't make sense."

"Um, I agree with Nico," Gwen voiced, "What did you say?"

Jason sighed. "We got information, it's just… I feel like you need to know more before you can understand it." His gaze flickered to Thalia's uncertainly.

"Know more?" I questioned. "Do you want to elaborate on that? And don't even think about it Nico."

Nico slumber back into the wall, but I could see his annoying little grin. Even though he didn't say it, I could almost hear him saying, "Didn't know Seaweed Brain could use such big words." Seriously, why can't they leave me alone!? I'm not stupid! …Maybe a little oblivious at times and once in a while I'm a bit slow… But I'm not an idiot! Oh, Jason's talking again.

"…Just appeared out of the shadows," Jason said. "Turns out, she's an ex-siren."

There was an uneasy silence as we all stared at Jason. I half expected him or Thalia to say, "Sike!" But unfortunately, no such thing happened.

"I'm sorry. Did you say ex-_siren_?" Gwen turned her head slightly and narrowed her eyes.

Jason sighed. "Yeah, I know it's crazy, but that's what she was. She told us herself."

"What else did she tell you?" I asked.

Thalia decided it was her time to finally speak up. "That's when she kindly," serious sarcasm was on the word 'kindly,' "Explained Plan B."

"Plan B?" Bobby echoed.

"Yes. They're Plan B. Ono and Canataus. You'll never guess whose Plan A." She glared pointedly at me, as if she thought I could understand by her glare. I didn't. When I didn't answer she spat out a word. The one word both brought chills to my spine and heated my anger. "Kronos."

"What!?" Nico nearly shouted. After the Romans shushed him, he continued in a loud whisper, "How is that possible?"

"Luke," Thalia hissed. Somehow, she said his name as if it were actual acid. There was more hatred in her saying _Luke _than when she spoke of Kronos. I had no idea why.

"Um, who's Luke?" Gwen asked.

I answered this time, "A good-for-nothing traitor." I turned to Jason, "So you're telling me that this is all because of Luke?"

Looking slightly uncomfortable at my stare, Jason stammered, "W-Well she said to was more of Kronos' doing-"

"But it was _Luke's _idea." Thalia gave a small smirk. "I suppose we should be flattered. He knew there was a chance he wouldn't be able to defeat me or you. That's where Ono and Connatus came into play."

"Yeah, about them, what exactly is up with them? It's like a double personality or something." Nico asked quickly. I had a feeling he was trying to get Thalia to change the subject. I don't blame him; I wanted the subject to change to. It's not that I don't trust the Romans, but these aren't exactly normal secrets. As I've clearly stated before, the live of a demigod isn't at all like a normal mortal's life. Meaning our secrets are not your typical "I like [insert name here]" secrets.

Jason made a face. "Well, we're not entirely sure. It's just a guess, really."

"And this guess would be…?" Gwen prompted.

Thalia took over. It seemed as though she already explained this before. We spent hours poring over all the new information. Nico and I kept trying to avoid mentioning Luke, but Thalia seemed to be enjoying saying his name over and over again, her voice naked with hate. I noticed that Jason seemed to say his name with a bit of malice as well. I wasn't sure what Thalia told him, but he obviously didn't like him. When we weren't discussing Luke/Kronos, we improved our escape plan and learned more about Ono and Connatus. Personally, I'd like to meet Connatus. He sounds a lot less scary than Ono.

"What did you guys do while we were... Um, here?" Jason asked.

Explaining our part of the story took less time than when Jason and Thalia explained theirs. After all was said and done, we decided it was time to put out plan into action. There was just one problem. Someone just showed up. From the suddenly cold atmosphere and the groaning of an unconscious person (trust me, I know 'unconscious') I had an unsettling feeling it was Ono.

"Not again…" Thalia whispered horrified. I glanced at her. Both her and Jason's eyes were wide. There was fear, sadness, and anger in their eyes.

In walked Ono, dragging a woman behind him. "Hello feast!" He boomed. "Look, I've got dessert," he held up the woman. I wasn't the only one who gasped in recognition.

"This one's been a thorn in my side for a while now. But not anymore," his grin looked very sadistic. Was that…_blood _on his teeth? "I'll catch you later," he paused. "That's a good idea. _Catch_. Maybe I'll have some fun before the feast," his eyes brightened. "I love playing with my food." Then he swung Jetta over his shoulder and strolled out, as if he had just won the lottery. The second he left, Bobby didn't waste any time.

"I say we start _now_. Let's get our butts the Pluto out of here."

We all agreed.

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><p><strong>Well, this is a strange twist… I was fully expecting myself to finish this story in this chapter. But then an idea formed in my head and… Well as you can see, it's obviously going to continue for a little while longer. I'd also like to say that this is my first story that has gone past 20 chapters! Yay! Exciting right?! Soooo… Review? Thanks :D<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

**I made some corrections to chapter 21. I reread it and all of them were completely bugging me. Nothing really changed, it's just edited. So if you want to read it, go ahead, but you don't have to. **

**I'm going to be a bit honest with you. I'm beginning to type this with literally **_**zero **_**in mind. I'm forcing myself to write this because I've been neglecting it for too long. I am so sorry about that. I really am. Okay…*takes deep breath*…here I go.**

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><p><em><strong>Jason POV<strong>_

"_I say we start now. Let's get our butts the Pluto out of here."_

"Bobby, I completely agree with you," I stood up, the others followed.

"But how are we supposed to get Jetta? We didn't expect her to be taken," Gwen said rather fearfully.

"Jetta? You mean that was her?" I asked.

Percy nodded grimly, "I suppose this changes things a bit."

Thalia sighed, "Of course it does." Her words weren't cocky or angry; just resigned.

Bobby turned to Nico, "You ready, dude?"

In answer, Nico outstretched his hands, palm up. Percy took his right with Thalia beside him. Bobby grabbed Nico's left hand followed by myself, Gwen, and Dakota. Suddenly, the cold sensation filled my gut once again. It was positively dreadful, but necessary. I closed my eyes, hoping it would help the process go faster.

Moments later, I heard a groan. Tentatively, I opened my eyes. We were on the other side of the bars, but something was wrong.

"Nico!" Percy hissed, "Come on man, wake up!"

I crouched down beside Bobby. It was clear Nico had passed out; his eyes were closed, there was some sweat on his brow, and his body was limp in Percy's arms.

"What happened?" Dakota whispered.

Frowning and checking Nico's forehead, Percy said quietly, "I don't think Nico's ever taken so many people before. It must've taken a lot out of him."

"We don't have time for this," I insisted, but added softly, "Will he be okay?"

Percy nodded, "He just needs to rest."

"Unfortunately, we don't have _time _for him to rest," Thalia looked around uncertainly as if someone were about to jump out and eat us any second. In fact, we all were.

Without missing a beat, Bobby spoke up, "I'll stay with him."

"_You'll _stay with him?" Dakota echoed in disbelief.

I felt the same confusion, but I knew there wasn't enough time to ask explanations. (Like, when did Bobby and Nico stop fighting and start becoming _friends_?)

"Thanks Bobby," I gave him a short, sharp nod. "Be safe and stay out of sight. Everyone else, let's go."

I took the lead, Percy followed at my right flank. Quietly, we all crept down the corridor. I averted my eyes from the dark stain on the floor; being bombarded with the mental images of the old man that would leave me crying in a corner will do me no good on this mission.

Without using any words, it seemed that we all worked as one. We moved as if we all had being training together for years. This went on for at least five minutes. The cave seemed to be endless, but that wasn't the worst part. I –I'm pretty sure we all were– just waiting for Ono to appear. The suspense was torture. Finally, we found Ono and what we saw was sickening.

Ono was sitting in the corner, his back facing us. Lying on her back was the woman, Jetta. She still appeared to be conscious. The closer we crept up to her, the worse she looked. Her front was stained with red and it was open. I don't mean her dress was unbuttoned, I mean her _chest _was _open_. I could see her heart still beating. I'm not sure how that was possible, but frankly, I don't care.

Aware that the other had stopped, I continued walking, drawing out my coin and silently flipping it in the air. My sword landed in my palm gracefully and quietly. There was just one problem. As I lifted my sword, but Jetta glanced at me. Her eyes were full of pain, but not terror. She spoke to me, not with her mouth, but in my head.

_My time has come, but please, kill this monster for me. _

With a sickening convulsion, I could almost see Jetta's life flutter from her body. Trying not to let it get to me too much –which it already had; it was both disturbing to have someone speak in your head and nerve-wracking as you watched that same person die– I lifted my sword, only to have it knocked from my grasp.

"Foolish mortal," Ono spoke in the same cadence as if he were sadly sighing. "You will never learn. I am stringer than you and I will crush you."

Grasping my wrists, Ono flung me across the room causing me to crash-land into Thalia and Dakota. Unfortunately, the rock wall was right behind them. It's a good thing my head harder than a rock, because I'm pretty sure it would've split had my skull been soft.

I groaned as Ono chuckled, walking slowly towards us. I was quickly pulled up, which did no good for my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Gwen help Thalia and Dakota rise, both looking a bit shaken at the brute force that had sent me hurdling towards them. So I suppose that means it was Percy to lift me up…?

"Stand back," Percy's voice was firm, but I felt a quiet shudder go through him. He brought out a pen. At first, I thought for sure he had gone mad. A _pen_? What was he going to do? Poison him with ink? Draw on him to death? Then Percy uncapped the writing utensil. It no longer was a ballpoint pen, but a sword. It was then when I remembered first seeing his weapon of choice. Similar to my own coin, Percy's 'pen' was only the trick of the Mist, hiding it's true form.

I watched in confusion as Ono's strut faltered.

"Anaklusmos," he hissed. "I've heard much about that sword."

Was it just me, or did Ono seem a bit frightened?

"You know Riptide's history; still want to feel its blade?" Percy's voice seemed to gain a bit more confidence at Ono's obvious dilemma.

The air was cold and full of tension as Ono seemed to consider the option. I prayed to all the gods I knew, hoping Ono would give up. Anaklumos –or Riptide or something– was certainly a deadly weapon with an even deadlier history. It would be best if Ono just surrendered now.

"You think I would just give up that quickly, demigod? You are a fool!" Ono waved his arm across and suddenly, my feet weren't touching the ground anymore. Once again, I was pummeled into the stone wall.

_Of course he doesn't give up. _I chide myself for such foolish behavior.

"You are no match for me! None of you!" Ono bellowed smugly. "You should give up. Let me eat you without any more trouble."

"Never!" Gwen snarled.

We all got up, reached for out weapons, and stared back at Ono fiercely. Not even looking at each other, we charged Ono together.

"The Olympians!"

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><p><strong>It's still short, but I guess it's not as bad as it could've been. Please review! I'd appreciate it :) <strong>


	23. Chapter 23

**Wow... This is the last chapter... And it's long! I hope you appreciate it's length; I worked all day on this. On with the show!**

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><p><em><strong>Percy POV<strong>_

We fought together as one body. It was insanely cool. We danced around Ono, which caused him to constantly spin around and around. We took turns jabbing him and poking him. It only made him angrier than actually causing any physical damage, but we were only just getting started. I'm not sure how long we've been going at it, but I wasn't tired at all. Having four other people by your side certainly made things a bit easier during a battle.

In the end, it wasn't us who delivered the final blow. It wasn't even a blow. The idiot managed to slip in the bl- ...the blood and knocked himself out. For good measure, Dakota took his club and bashed his head. Thankfully, he didn't stir.

Remember how I said I wasn't tired? Well, I take that back. The minute he fell down was the minute I realized how drained I was. The tip of my sword clattered to the ground, my arms too tired to hold it up. Not to mention, Ono managed some very powerful –very painful– swings.

I was now sporting a lovely long gash on my forearm as well as the usual head trauma. Gwen had a twisted ankle, but that didn't stop her from blinding Ono with a burst of light (which was the reason he had stepped sideways –not backwards, the idiot stepped _sideways_– into the blood). I'm sure Apollo would be proud. Dakota had a gash similar to my own, but his had been slashed across his chest. The brave drunk had tried to sneak up behind Ono. It didn't work according to plan, but at least Dakota distracted Ono enough for Gwen to use her final blast of power. Thalia's currently nursing her abdomen, so she's probably gotton a broken rib or two. My own ribs feel badly bruised, but not quite as much as Thalia's visage is showing hers feel. She did get kicked pretty hard, which had sent her sprawling into the Jason who, yet again, hit his head on the stone wall. That kid has a heard head. All demigods do of course, but Jason will go down in demigod history as the only half-blood to have a _stone _for a head. Besides having a minor concussion, Jason also acquired a very manly chip on his front tooth.

Everyone was covered from head-to-toe in dirt, cuts, bruises, and only minor 'I-need-nectar-and-ambrosia-_now_' injuries. It could've been worse. In fact, I've _been _worse. Many times. Which makes me wonder if-

"Did this seem a bit too easy to anyone else?"

Gwen had asked the question. She was leaning on Dakota, keeping her weight off the left ankle as much as possible.

"I was just thinking that," I admitted reluctantly.

"Are you kidding me? Easy!?" Thalia began to take a step toward me, but pain flared across her face and she slowly sank down to her knees. Her ribs might be worse than I originally expected.

"Just... Someone get me my ambrosia," she gritted through her teeth.

Before I could get mine out, Jason was already by her side looking better than ever. Well, looking as though he hadn't just been in a fight for his life.

"Here, have mine," he tore off a piece and handed it to Thalia, who ate it hungrily.

As she ate, her face smoothing out, eliminating the any traces of pain. I've often wondered what others tasted when they consumed the food of the gods. Speaking of which, I brought my own supply out –how it managed to stay in my pocket will always remain a mystery to me– and took a small bite. The process was immediate. My arm began to heal and the bruises went from a dark black/blue color to a sickly yellow. Those tiny, insignificant cuts disappeared as well, but all I could think about was my mom's delicious blue chocolate chip cookies. When I get home, I'll see if she would make me some more.

"So what now?"

Dakota's voice brought me out of my (very delicious) daydream.

We all instinctively turned to where Ono was laying. Only there was no Ono. The tension in the room skyrocketed from zero to one hundred and fifty in about three seconds. My first thought –more like desperate plea– was that he simply vanished in that special way monsters do. Of course, monsters who vanish don't leave behind bloody footprints trailing deeper into the cave.

"Oh great," Thalia whispered. Her voice filled with sarcasm, terror, and annoyance. She is the only person I know –mortal, god, and demigod alike– who can have three different emotions rolled up into two words. "That's just great," she repeated in the same tone.

Gwen looked around nervously (I can't blame her though, I was doing the same) and asked, "Wh-where do you think-"

She never got to finish. A scream echoed into the cave. It's funny how I only meet him a few days ago and I could already tell who it was.

"BOBBY!" Jason yelled and tore off running toward the noise. I followed, close at his heels, which in foresight really sucked; I was too close to stop myself from being landed on. _Again. _

With a slightly conscious Nico, Bobby had ran away from... Well, I'm not entirely sure. Most likely Ono, but you can never know for sure on these mission. Where was I? Oh yes. Dragging Nico behind him, Bobby rounded a corner and crashed into Jason. This is where I come in. Remember how I said I was right at Jason's heels? You can just _guess _what happened next. Yep, that's it. Jason fell backward into _me._ I fell backward into the ground. This was somehow Nico's fault. I blame him for my now permanently bruised tailbone.

"Bobby! What's going on?"Jason asked quickly, rolling off of me and helping Bobby stand, who was still clutching onto Nico's hand like a madman. Had he been more awake, I know Nico wouldn't have appreciated that really well. On the other hand, had Nico been more awake, we wouldn't _be _in the position to begin with; we only split up because of him.

I started to sit up, shifting my weight into my legs, when I suddenly felt hands reach under my arm-pits. Before I could protest that I was fine, someone hauled me up into a standing positing. Turning, I saw a familiar face. Anyone else, I would've told them that I didn't need the help, but I figured I like my nose _not _broken. Smiling my thanks, Thalia gave me a quick nod in return.

"Him! He came and... He was bloody... But it was him! All along!" Bobby stuttered.

"Bobby calm down," Jason put a reassuring hand Bobby's shoulder. If I had any doubts about who the leader was in this group of Romans, I don't anymore. "Who was it? Ono?"

Bobby shook his head, "No, no it was the other guy. Con-something,"

Jason jerked his head back in shock. I felt equally confused. Wasn't that the one who was actually _nice_?

"You mean Connatus?" Thalia asked carefully. When Bobby shook his head yes, Thalia gave a nervous laugh, "You- you've got to be confused. Connatus is the good guy."

That would've made me feel a lot better if it didn't seem that Thalia was trying to convince herself as well.

"I am."

We all jumped at the voice. Turning, we came face-to-face with the monster himself. Connatus. He took a painful step forward; we all scrambled back.

"I'm sorry...for frightening your f-friend," Connatus said, directing the conversation towards Jason and Thalia. "I was looking for...you."

The man –er, monster– was in bad shape. Not only was his body decorated with the wounds –albeit _minor _wounds– from when we fought Ono, his dark red hair was splotched with bright color. One color in particular. Bright, red blood. Clearly, whatever happened to Ono, happened to Connatus as well.

Jason took a tentative step forward, "We were in that room. The one you...woke up in."

"You were? I- I didn't see you..." Connatus shuddered. "My brother," he whimpered out, "He's dieing. He wants... Wants to be free... But I'm holding him in. Holding him in."

Tears were coming out from his eyes. A deep sense of sorrow emitted from my gut. I remembered Thalia and Jason explaining the different between Ono and his brother Connatus only a few hours ago. Connatus reminded me so much of Tyson that I couldn't help but feel for the big guy. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to comfort him, but something... Something held me back. I couldn't tell what it was. Glancing around, I noticed the same confliction in everyone's faces.

Everyone's but Thalia and Jason's. Almost as if in a trance, they walked toward the crying heap. The two seemed so calm, that I just couldn't stop myself from taking a step. And another. And then another.

Connatus reached out, grasping Thalia's hand.

"You were a-always so kind... Please, don't- don't leave me yet," he choked out, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. It was disgusting, but given the circumstances, very sad.

Thalia and Jason crouched beside the dying man-monster. I couldn't see their faces, since I was standing behind them. The feeling of 'wrongness' intensified as I got closer. But what was it?

"Shh," Thalia murmured out reverently. Her hand was stroking his hair. "Don't talk, relax."

"We'll try to save you," Jason added, "Right guys?" He turned around. I managed to catch myself before gasping; Gwen however, didn't.

Jason's electric blue eyes were now dull and glassed over. His voice sounded monotone. Now, I _know _something's wrong. Connatus smiled, but it didn't bring me comfort.

"You two...the only friends I've ever had," he whispered.

Still grasping Thalia's hand, he pulled her in closer... That was a mistake. If anything can make Thalia become un-hypnotized, it's a male trying to kiss her.

"What the-!?" She yelped and pulled away quickly, rubbing her mouth even though Connatus hadn't touched her.

Oblivious to what just happened, Jason reached for Connatus now.

"See? We're going to try and save you. Don't worry, we'll find a way to keep Ono at bay."

"Jason stop!" Thalia shouted, but it was too late.

Connatus –though I was seriously doubting that's who we were talking to– lunged at Jason and in one graceful motion, he was standing.

"Don't move!" he rasped, "Unless you want him to get it."

Ono –it _had _to be him...right?– held Jason in a hostage position. One arm was across Jason's chest protectively, the other was grasping his head, tilting it sideways. Ono's teeth were bared and next to Jason's exposed throat.

"You all are clever. You know what my teeth can do," he said smugly. "If you don't want him to die, I suggest you back away."

Reluctantly, we did.

"What did you do to Jason and I?" Thalia demanded. "Where's Connatus?"

Ono laughed, but stopped short when more blood tricked from his mouth. I realized that even if this _wasn't _Connatus, the injures he had when he was pretending to be his brother were very real. Most likely, very painful.

"Why would I tell you?" he sneered, but his usual amount of malice had died down.

Shockingly, the answer came from the person I least expected. Dakota.

"You switched, didn't you? Right before you blacked out, you managed to switch."

Ono frowned and clutched Jason tighter, "Well aren't you a clever boy."

"Guys, we should help-"

"Jason shut up!" Thalia screamed.

I took a step back from her. Thalia is mad- no, she's _pissed_. You don't want to be near Thalia when she's angry. Things tend to go _Boom_.

"But not quite clever enough," Ono grinned, bringing his teeth closer to Jason's neck.

"NO!" We all shouted, darting forward.

A sudden gust of wind knocked us backward.

"Don't even think about it," Ono chided. "What have I been telling you? I am far superior and I _will _reign supreme."

"You killed Connatus!" Thalia shouted. "You murdered you own brother!"

A sly grin crept onto Ono's face, "Not exactly."

There was silence.

"What? Are you saying Connatus never existed?" Bobby asked. When no answer came, he said in surprise, "You are! It was you the entire time!"

Slowly, I began inching away. If I could just get behind Ono maybe... Maybe...

"And you never suspected a thing! Had I been born a weak mortal, I could've been one of those... How you say it? Allies? No, actors. That's it," Ono replied proudly.

"More like a psychopath," Dakota murmured. That earned a dark chuckle form Bobby and a halfhearted snicker from Nico, who was still pretty out of it.

"Never existed? But..." Thalia looked as though she were punched in the face.

"Yes, you imbecile. Connatus never existed. He was only a ploy, to get you to trust me," a very scary grin appeared on Ono's face, "And it worked."

Don't ask me how, but I managed to sneak behind Ono. I uncapped Riptide and as quietly as I could stepped closer and closer to him. Gwen caught me in the shadows. I was afraid she might give a sign to me and cause Ono to realize what I was doing, but she didn't. Silently, I thanked both my dad and Apollo. The Roman version of Apollo that is.

"What are you going to do with us now?"Gwen questioned. I was surprised to hear no fear in her voice.

Dark laughter echoed around the the walls. "Now? Why now I kill y-"

He never finished. I swung Riptide as hard as I could, decapitating him in mid-sentence. As his body began to crumple to dust, Jason became himself again.

"Wha? What happened?"

The walls around us began to shake; the ceiling started to break apart.

"No time!" Thalia yelled grabbing his hand. "We have to get out of here!"

Let me tell you, running down a crumbling mountain for fear of your short, demigod life is not fun. When we finally made to to safety, we all just about fell flat on our faces from pure exhaustion.

"Made it," I panted.

"Yes you did."

I as far too tired to jump at the sound. And in all honestly, I wasn't too surprised to hear his voice.

"Dad? Or is it Apollo?" Gwen gasped out. "Frankly, I'm too tired to care at the moment."

The man chuckled, "Yes, I am your father Gwendolyn. You've done well. All of you."

Looking at him, I could see the subtle difference. While Greek-Apollo looked (and acted) like a young immature –just don't tell him I said that– college student, this man looked just that. A man. A young man, who radiated warmth. I felt as though he was not only wise, but easy-going and enjoyable. I say 'enjoyable' in regards to his music. I bet _he _doesn't sprout out random poems on impulse.

"You're right, Perseus Jackson. I don't."

I gave a grin in response, too tired to open my mouth.

"Lord Apollo," Jason said as he bowed. The other Romans followed suit. After glancing at each other, us Greek demigods followed.

_Of course Nico chooses _now _to come to. _

"No need for such formalities," the god said. "I don't really care for them."

"Why are you here father?" Gwen asked.

A sad smiled graced his features.

"While your meeting was absolutely vital, I'm afraid we cannot allow you to remember this."

"Wait," Bobby took a step forward. "You mean to say that we did all this, but we won't remember it? But it's my first quest!" he whined.

"I'm sorry. Truly I am. But it's not time for you to acknowledge each other yet."

"When you say 'we,' you mean... us," Jason pointed to himself and Thalia. "Romans and Greeks."

"Yes," was the sad reply.

I looked around at the faces I came to think of as friends.

"Can we have a moment to say good-"

Xx~oOo~xX

Percy yawned. That had been such a strange dream. It'd been about... About... That's strange. He can't remember. But he was sure it had been strange. Something about... About... Blue chocolate chip cookies! That was it! Percy's stomach growled at the thought of food.

_That's strange, _Percy though as he got out of bed. _I ate at McHale's yesterday with Thalia just before coming home. _

Remembering the little adventure he had with his two cousins reminded Percy he needed to contact Chiron.

It was still dark outside when he crept out of his room. Figuring his mom was still asleep, Percy wrote a short note telling her he had been on an mission (because for some reason he hadn't told her yesterday after coming home) and he would be at Camp Half-Blood for who knows how long. He reminded his mother not to worry and that he loved her. As Percy quietly walked out of the apartment complex and hailed a cab, he failed to see that date.

December 18 was the last day Percy had remembered. That's when he had followed Mrs. O'Leary –the 'poodle'– out of his classroom and into another mission sent on by the gods. Technically, only one. And it was a goddess. Persephone. Today should've been December 19. No school until after New Year's. But it wasn't. It was December 22.

What had happened?

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><p><strong>What do ya'll think? Good or bad? I don't really care either way; I like the way I ended it. So please review! :)<strong>


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